44-1 

G^9 



i 




Qass_£-J-ijL 
Book 



HISTORY OF THE STRUGGLE 



FOR 



SLAVER! mmmi or restrictioi 



UlSriTED STA.TES, 



FROM THE 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



TO THE PRESENT DAY. 



/ 



,? 



MAINLT 

COMPILED AND CONDENSED FROM THE JOURNALS OF CONGRESS AND 

OTHER OFFICIAL RECORDS, AND SHOWING THE VOTE BY 

YEAS AND NAYS ON THE MOST IMPORTANT 

DIVISIONS IN EITHER HOUSE. 



BY HORACE GREELEY. 



NEW YORK: 

DIX. EDWARDS & CO., 321 BROADWAY. 

1S56. 



■Qff 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 

DIX, EDWARDS & CO., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of Ne^r York. 



m 



MILLKR & IIOLMAN', 
Prinh'.rs and St.ereotypcrs, N. Y. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

I. Slavery in the Colonies - -__.._-- i 

Origin in 1G20— Virginia tho first Slave colony— Prohibited in Georgia— Adjudged illegal 
in Massachusetts— Slave Importation prohibited in Virginia and other colonies— Lord 
Mansfield's Decision. • - - - - • - - -lto3 

11. Slavery under the Confederation _ . _ . .3 

state cessions of Public Lands— Mr. Jefferson's Blavery Restriction in 1784— Defeated in 
Continental Congress by a minority vote— Mr. Dane's modified Bcstriction (1787)— 
Carried - - - . - - - . . . -3to4 

III. Under the Federal Constitution ...... 4. 

Constitutional provisions affecting Slavery — History thereof— Amendments - - 4 to 5 

IV. Cessions of Southern Territory - - . - _ . 5 

Kentucky formed from Virginia — Tennessee from North Carolina — Alabama from Geor- 
gia—Congress forbidden by terms of cession to abolish or prohibit Slavery - • 6 

V. Early attempts to override the Ordinance of '87 - -,- 5 

Ohio— Indiana — John Randolph's Report — Ca;sar Rodney's— Mr. Qarnett's — Mr. Parke's 
— Jesse Franklin's - - - • - -- - : -5 to 7 

VI. The First Missouri Struggle ... ... 8 

Purchase of Louisiana— Missouri Territory — Applies for Admission as a State— Gen. Tall- 
madge's Restriction on Slavery — Yeas and Nays thereon — Debate by Hon. Messrs. T. 
Fuller of Mass , James Tallmadge of N. Y., Scott of Mo., Cobb of Ga., and Livermore 
of N. U.— Vote in the Senate— Bill fails by disagreement - - - - 8 to 21 

VII. The Second Missouri Struggle 21 

Missouri Question Revived—Memorial of Daniel Webster ... - 22 

Resolves of the Legislatures of New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and 

Kentucky • - • - - - - - - - -25 to 27 

Mr. Thomas's Amendment — Votes in the Senate - - - - ' - 27 to 28 

Votes in the House— Compromise Bill passed - - - • • - 33 to 39 

VIII. The Third Missouri Struggle 30 

Missouri Constitution respecting negroes— Mr. Clay's second Compromise adopted. - - 30 to 31 

IX. Extension of Missouri -- - - - - - -31 

Mr. Clayton's Report— Adopted without division. 31 



iv CONTENTS. 

Page. 

X. The Annexation of Texas - - - - - _ -31 

Early History of Texas — Her Independence, 31 to 32 

Anti-Annexation Address of J. Q. Adams, Seth M. Gates, and others, to the People of 

the United States, -- -. 32 

Northern opposition — The Secret Circular, 36 

Mr. Calhoun's Annexation Dispatch to W. R. King, Emhassador at Paris, ... 37 

Polk and Dallas elected — Propositions in Congress respecting Annexation — Votes there- 
on — Measure Carried — The Joint Resolves, - - - - - - - - -40 to 44 

XI. The Wilmot Proviso 44 

Proceedingsand Votes in Congress thereon, • . - 44 to 46 

Gen. Cass's letter to A. 0. P. Nicholson, - . 47 

Congress resumed— Mr. I. P. Walker's proposition — Mr. R. W. Thompson's amend- 
ment — Failure in the Senate, - - . -48 to 52 

XII, Oregon (Bill to organize as a Territory) - - - - 52 

Ordinance of '87 applied — Mr. Douglas moves to extend Missouri Compromise Line to 
the Pacific— Senate approves— House rejects— Senate recedes— Bill passed, - - 52 to 54 

XIII. The Compromise of 1850 54 

President Taylor's Message— Gen. Houston's Resolves— Mr. Clay's— Mr. John Bell's— 
Mr. Clay's plan discussed hy Messrs. Foote of Miss., Mason of Va., Jeff. Davis— Mr. 
Clay— Mr. Wm. R. King— Mr. Downs of La.— Mr. Butler of S. C. - - - - 54 to 59 

Select Committee raised by the Senate — Mr. Clay's Report, -.-... 60 

Proceedings and votes in Congress thereon, - - - - - - - . -60 to 69 

The Acts of 1850 concerning California, Texas, New-Mesdco, and Utah, ... - 70 

XIV. The Kansas-Nebraska Struggle - - - - - -71 

Atchison in '53 — Pierce's Inaugural and First Message, .... - 72 

Mr. Douglas's Report introducing the Nebraska Bill, - - - - - - 73 

Proceedings and Votes in Senate, ....... -74 

Gov. Seward's closing Speech against the bill, • - - - . --77 

Proceedings and Votes in the House, ....... -82 

The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, - - .......85 

President Pierce's Special Kansas Message, - ..... -89 

Mr. Douglas's Senate Report thereon, - - - - - ---93 

Mr. Collamer's Minority Report, ....... . jjg 

The Kansas Investigation — Mr. Dunn's proposition — Yeas and Nays thereon, . - 118 

Report of the Investigating Committee, - - - - - - -119 

The House on Free Kansas Constitution — Mr. Dunn's Substitute — Votes — Bill passed, 146 

The Topcka Constitution, ......... 143 

The Senate on Kansas — Douglas's new proposition — Various amendments rejected — 

Bill passed, ............ 155 

The Toombs-Douglas bill, - • - - - - - • - - 158 

Mr. Dunn's bill to recognize Kansas, ....... I6I 

Mr. Matteson's preamble and resolves based on Annexation of Texas, - • . . 163 
House vote on receding from Proviso to the Army bill, - 163 



THE 



HISTORY OF THE QUESTION 



SLAVERY EXTENSION OR RESTRICTION. 



MAINLY BY DOCUMENTS. 



SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES. 

Human Slavery, as it existed in the pa- 
gan world, and especially in the inftincy, vig- 
or, and decline of Greek and Roman civiliza- 
tion, gradually died out in the advancing 
light of Christianity. When Columbus open- 
ed the New World to European enterprise 
.and settlement, the serfdom of Russia and 
Hungary, and the mild bondage of Turkey 
— each rather an Asiatic or Scythian than a 
European power — were the last remaining 
vestiges of a system which had pervaded, and 
mastered, and ruined, the vast empires of Al- 
exander and the Caisars. The few ignorant 
and feeble dependents elsewhere held in vir- 
tual bondage by force rather of custom than 
of positive law, serve rather to establish than 
I disprove this general statement. 

Lust of gold and power was the main im- 
bulse of Spanish migration to the marvelous 
regions beyond the Atlantic. And the soft 
and timid Aborigines of tropical America, 
especially of its islands, were first compelled 
to surrender whatever they possessed of the 
precious metals to the imperious and grasp- 
ing strangers ; next forced to disclose to those 
strangers the sources whence they were most 
readily obtained ; and finally driven to toil 
and delve for more, wherever power and greed 
supposed they might most readily be obtained. 
From this point, the transition to general en- 
slavement was ready and rapid. The gentle 
and indolent natives, unaccustomed to rug- 
ged, persistent toil, and revolting at the harsh 
and brutal severity of their Christian mas- 
ters, had but one unfailing resource — death. 
Through privation, hardship, exposure, 
fati^-ue and despair, they drooped and died, 
until millions were reduced to a few miser- 
able thousands within the first century of 
Spanish rule in America. 

A humane and observant prie^st (Las Casas,) 
witnessing these cruelties and sufferings, was 
moved by pity to devise a plan for their ter- 
mination, lie suggested and urged the poli- 
cy of substituting for these feel)le and perish- 
ing " Lidians" the hardier natives of 'SW^steru 



Africa, whom then" eternal wars and maraud- 
ing invasions were constantly exposing to 
captivity and sale as prisoners of war, and 
who, as a race, might be said to be inured to 
the hardships and degradations of Slavery 
by an immemorial experience. The sugges- 
tion was unhappily approved, and the wo&s 
and miseries of the few remaining Aborigines 
of the islands known to us as " West Indies," 
were inconsiderably prolonged by exposing 
the whole continent for unnumbered genera- 
tions to the evils and horrors of African slave- 
ry. The author lived to perceive and deplore 
the consequences of his expedient. 

The sanction of the Pope having been ob- 
tained for the African slave-trade by repre- 
sentations which invested it with a look of 
philanthropy, Spanish and Portuguese mer- 
cantile avarice was readily enlisted in its 
prosecution, and the whole continent, north 
and south of the tropics, became a slave-mart 
before the close of the sixteenth century. 

Holland, a comparatively new and Pro- 
testant state, unable to shelter itself from the 
reproaches of conscience and humanity be- 
hind a Papal bull, entered upon the new traf- 
fic more tardily ; but its profits soon overbore 
all scruples, and British merchants were not 
proof against the glittering evidences of their 
success. But the first slave-ship that ever 
entered a North American port for the sale 
of its human merchandise, was a Dutch trad- 
ing-vessel which landed twenty negro bond- 
men at Jamestown, the nucleus of V^irginia, 
almost simultaneously with the landing of the 
Pilgrims of the Mavtlower on Plymouth rock, 
Dec. 22d, 1G20. 

The Dutch slaver had chosen his market 
with sagacity. Virginia was settled by Ca- 
valiers— gentlemen-adventurers aspiring to 
live by their own wits and otlier men's labor 
— with the necessary complejiient of follow- 
ers and servitors. Few of her pioneers cher- 
ished any earnest liking for downright, per- 
sistent, muscular exertion ; yet some ex- 
ertion was urgently required to clear away 
the heavy forest which all but covered the 
soil of the infant colony, and grow the To- 
bacco which easily became its staple export, 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



by means of which nearly everything required i had them set at liberty. The first Continent- 

by its people but food was to be paid for 

in England. The slaves, therefore, found 

ready "purchasers at satisfactory prices, and 

the success of the first venture induced others ; 

until not only Virginia but every part of 

British America was supplied with African 

slaves. 

This traffic, with the bondage it involved, 
had no justification in British nor in the early 
colonial laws ; but it proceeded nevertheless, 
much as an importation of dromedaries to i-e- 
place with presumed economy our horses 
and oxen might now do. Georgia was the 
first among the colonies to resist and remand 
it in her original charter under the lead of 
her noble founder-Governor, General Ogle- 
thorpe ; but the evil was too formidable and 
inveterate for local extirpation, and a few 
years saw it established, even in Georgia ; 
first evading or defying, and at length mold- 
ing and transforming the law. 

It is very common at this day to speak of 
our revolutionary struggle as commenced and 
hurried forward by a union of free and slave 
colonics ; but sucli is not the fact. However 
slender and dubious its legal basis. Slavery ex- 
isted in each and all of the colonies that unit- 
ed to declare and maintain their independ- 
ence. Slaves were proportionately more nu- 
merous in certain portions of the South ; but 
they were held with impunity throughout 
the North, advertised like dogs or horses, and 
sold at auction, or otherwise, as chattels. Ver- 
mont, tlien a territory in dispute between New- 
Hampsliire and New- York, and wath very 
few civilized inhabitants, mainly on its south- 
ern and eastern borders, is probably the only 
portion of the revolutionary confederation 
never polluted by the tread of a slave. 

The spirit of liberty, aroused or intensi- 
fied_Jjy^\hg_pr 6fi^ tel t ' btiug g le o f -the colo- 
nists _aganisrusurjre'a~an3'~atrnsed power in 
the mother country ,~s6oiiTduhd~1tselt' engaged 
in naFural antagonism against the current 



form of domestic despotism. " How shall- -unkuawjutajtha 



we complain of arbitrary or unlimited power 
exerted over us, while wc exert a still more 
despotic and niexcnsable power over a de- 
pendent and benighted race ?" was very fair- 
ly asked. Several suits were brought in 
Massachusetts — where the fires of liberty 
burnt earliest and l)rightest — to test the legal 
right ofslaveholding ; and the leading Whigs 
gave their money and their legal services to 
support these actions, which were generally, 
on one ground or aliother, successful. Efibrts 
for an express law of emancipation, however, 
failed even in Massachusctt*; ; the Legislature, 
doubtless, apprehending that such a measure, 
by alienating the slaveholders, would increase 
the number and power of the Tories ; but in 
1777, a privateer having brought a lot of 
captured .slaves into Jamaica, and advertised 
them for sale, the General Court, as the leg- 
islative assembly was called, interfered and 



al Congress which resolved to resist the 
usurpations and oppressions of Great Britain 
by I'orce, had already declared that our strug- 
gle would bo " for the cause of human na- 
ture," which the Congress of 1776, under 
the lead of Thomas Jefferson, expanded into 
the noble affirmation of the right of " all men 
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" 
contained in the immortal preamble to the 
Declaration of Independence. A like aver- 
ment that ' all men are born free and equal,' 
was in 1780 inserted in the Massachusetts Bill 
of Rights ; and the Supreme Court of that 
State, in 1783, on an indictment of a master 
for assault and battery, held this declaration 
a bar to slaveholding henceforth in the state. 
A similar clause in the second Constitution 
of New-Hampshire, was held by the courts 
of that State to secure freedom to every child, 
born therein after its adoption. Pennsylvania, 
in 1780, passed an act prohibiting the further 
introduction of slaves and securing freedom 
to all persons born in that State thereafter. 
Connecticut and Ehode Island passed similar 
acts in 1784. Virginia, 1778, on motion 
of Mr. Jefferson, prohibited the further 
importation of slaves ; and in 1782, re- 
moved all legal restrictions on emancipa- 
tion : Maryland adopted both of these in 1783. 
North Carolina, in 1786, declared the intro- 
duction of Slaves into that state " of evil con- 
sequences and highly impolitic," and imposed 
a duty of £5 per head thereon. New- York 
and New-Jersey followed the example of 
Virginia and Maryland, including the domes- 
tic in the same interdict with the foreign slave 
trade. Neither of these States, however, de- 
clared a general emancipation until many 
years thereafter, and Slavery did not wholly 
cease in New-York until about 1830, nor in 
New-Jersey till a much later date. ^The 
distinction of.free and slave States^ with tlie 
kindred assumption oT a natural antagonism 
between the North and South, was utterly 



Before the Declaration of Independence, 
but during the intense ferment which preced- 
ed it, and distracted public attention from 
everything else, Lord Mansfield had rendered 
his judgment from the King's Bench, which 
expelled Slavery from England, and ought to 
have destroyed it in the colonies as well. 
The plaintiff in this famous case was 
James Somerset, a native of Africa, car- 
ried to Virginia as a slave, taken thence 
by his master to England, and there in- 
cited to resist the claim of his master to 
his services, and assert his right to liberty. 
In the first recorded case, involving the 
legality of modern slavery in England, it 
was held (1697) that negroes, "being usual- 
ly bought and sold among merchants as mer- 
chandise, and also being infidels, there might 
be a property in them sufficient to maintain 
trover. " But this was overruled by Chief Jus- 



SLAVERY UNDER THE CONFEDERATION. 



ticc Holt from the Kinp's IJench (1697,) rul- 
ing that " Sio soon as a negro hinds in England 
he is free ;" and again. (1 TO'2) that '• there is no 
snch thing as a slave by the law of England." 
This judgment proving exceedingly trouble- 
someto planters and merchants from slave- 
holding cnlonies visiting the mother country 
with their servants, the merchants concerned 
in the American trade, in 1720, procured fr(jm 
Yorke and Talbot, the Attorney General and 
Solicitor (Jeneral of the Crown, a written 
0]>inion that negroes, legally enslaved elsc- 
wliere, might be held as slav&s in Kngland, 
and that oven baptism was no bar to the mius- 
ters claim. This o])inion was. in 1741). held 
to be sound law Ijy Yorke (now Lord Ifard- 
wicke), sitting as Judge, on the ground that, 
if the contrary ruling of I^ord Holt were up- 
held, it would abolish slavery in Jamaica or 
Virginia as well as in Englaud ; British law 
being paramount in each. Thus the law 
stood until Lord Mansfield, in Somerset's 
case, reversed it with evident reluctance, and 
after having vainly endeavored to bring about 
an acconuuodation between the parties. 
When delay would serve no louger, and a 
judgment must be rendered, Mansfield declar- 
ed it in these memorable words : 

" We cannot direct the law ; the law must di- 
rect us. »* » The stnte of Slnvery is of such a 
nature that it 18 incnpnlile of being- introduced on 
any reasons, moral or political, but only by posi- 
tive law. which preserves its force long after tlio 
reasons, occasion, and time itself whence it was 
created, is erased from tlie memory. It is so odi- 
ous that nothing can be suflicient to support it 
but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, 
therefore, may follow from the decision, I cannot 
Bay this case is allowed or approved by the law 
of England, and therefore the black must be dis- 
charged." 

The natural, if not necessary, effect of this 
decision on Slavery in these colonies, had their 
connection with the mother country been 
continued, is sufficiently obvious. 



II. 



SLAVERY UN'DER THE CONFEDERATION. 

The disposition or management of un- 
peopled territories, pertaining to the thirteen 
recent colonies now confederated as inde- 
pendent States, early became a subject of 
solicitude and of bickering among those 
States, and in Congress. By the terms of 
their charters, some of the colonies had an in- 
definite extension westwardly, and were only 
limited by the power of the grantor. Many 
of these charters conflicted with each other — 
the same territory being included within the 
limits of two or more totally distinct colonies. 
As the expeusesof the Revo'lutionary struggle 
began to bear heavily on the resources of the 
States, it was keenly felt by some that their 
share in the advantages of the expected 
triumph, would be less than that of others. 
Massachusetts. Connecticut, New-York, A^ir- 
giuia, North Carolina, and Georgia, laid 



claim to spacious dominions outside of their 
proix-r boiiii(larie.s ; while Xew-ifampshire 
(save in V^ermont), Rhode Island, Ni'w-Jer- 
sey, Maryland, Delaware, and South Caro- 
lina, po.sse.s-sed no such boasted res(uirees to 
meet the war-debis constantly augmenting. 
'I'hey urged, therefore, with obvious justice, 
that these uiUMjiial advantages ought to be 
surreiKlered. and all the lands included within 
the territorial limits of the rnion, l)ut out- 
side of the proper and natural boundaries of 
the several States, respectively, should be 
ceded to. and lieid by, Congress, in trust for 
the conmion benefit of all the States, and 
their proceeds employed in satisfaction of the 
debts and liabilitiesof the (Jonfe/leration.'I'his 
reasonable requisition was ultimately, but 
with some reservations, responded to. Vir- 
ginia reserved a sufliciency lieyond the Ohio 
to furnish the bounties promised to her re- 
volutionary oflicfTS and soldiers, ('onnecti- 
cut, a western reserve, since largely settled 
from the parent State. Massachusetts re- 
.scrved five millions of acres, located in West- 
ern New York, which she claimed to be 
entitled by her charter to own. In either of 
these cases, the fee only was reserved, the 
sovereignty being surrendered. 

The cessions were severally made during, 
or directly after, the close of the Revolution- 
ary War. And one of the most obvious du- 
ties devolved on the Continental Congress, 
which held its sessions in Philadelphia di- 
rectly after the close of that exhau-sting strug- 
gle, was the framing of an act or ordinance 
for the government of the vast domain thua 
committed to its care and disposal. 

The responsible duty of framing this ordi- 
nance was devolved by Congress on a Select 
Committee, consisting of INIr. Jefferson of 
Va. (Chairman), Chase of Md., and Ilowell 
of R. I. ; who in due time reported a plan for 
the government_oftheWestern Territory, con- 
tcmplating the whole region included withia 
our boundaries west of the old thirteen States, 
and as far south as our 31st degree of North 
latitude ; territory as yet partially ceded to the 
Confederation, but which was expected to be 
so, and embracing several of our present Slave 
States. This plan contemplated the ultimate 
division of this territory into seventeen States, 
eight of them situated below the parallel of 
the Falls of the Ohio Cnow Louisville), and 
nine above it. Among other rules reported 
from this Committee by Mr. Jefferson, for 
the government of this vast region, was the 
following : •^ 

" That after the year 1800, of the Christian era, ( 
there shall be neither Shivery nor involuntary \ 
servitude in any of the said Stafr.i, otherwise V^ 
than in ])unishnient of crimes, whereof the paiiy ( 
shall have been convicted to be personally I 
guihy." "^ '^^ 

April l^tlt, 1784. — Congress having the 
aforesaid Report under consideration, Mr. 
Spaight, of N. C, moved the striking out of 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



the above paragraph. Mr. Read, of S. C, 
seconded the motion. The ayes and nays, 
being required by Mr. Howell, were ordered, 
and put in this form — " Shall the words 
moved to be stricken out stand ?" — and de- 
cided as follows : 

N. -Hampshire .Mr. Foster .... ay S j 

" Blenvelt . . . ay ? ^•^• 
Massachusetts . " Gerry '^X ^ 4 

" Partridge . . . ay\- ^' 
Rhobe Island . . " Ellerv ^Y l a 

" Howell .... ay S ^^■ 
CoN.VECTicuT ..." Shcnnan . . . ay > . 

" Wadsworth . ay \ "' 
NewTokk . . . . " De Witt • • • ay ^ d„ 

" Perine ay ^ ^' 

NewJf.rsky ..." Dick f^y }■* 

Pennsylvania . . " Miflflin a'y^ 

" Montci;omery . ay > Ai/. 

" Hand ay ) 

Maryland ;| McHenry ... no P j^-^-^^a. 

" Stone • .... no ^ 
Virginia " Jefferson ... ay ^ at 

" Hardy no S '^ 

" Mercer .... no ? »r^ 
N. Carolina ..." Williamson . ay ^ 

" Spaight .... no ^ 
S. Carolina ..." Read no > Ko. 

" Beresford ... no} 

So the question was lost, and the words 
were struck out. 

Lost — although six States voted aye to 
only three nay ; and though of the members 
present, fifteen voted for, to six against, Mr. 
Jefferson's proposition. But the Articles of 
Confederation required a vote of nine States 
to cany a proposition ; and, failing to re- 
ceive so many, this comprehensive exclusion 
of Slavery from the Federal Territories was 
defeated. 

The Ordinance, thus depleted, after under- 
going some further amendments, was finally 
approved April '23rd — all the delegates, but 
those from South Carolina, voting in the 
affirmative. 

In 1787 the last Continental Congress, 
sitting in New York simultaneously with 
the Convention at Philadelphia which 
framed our Federal Constitution, took up 
the subject of the government of the West- 
ern Territory, raising a Committee thereon, 
of which Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, 
was Chairman. That Committee reported 
(July 11th), "An Ordinance for the gov- 
ernment of the Territory of the United 
States, Northwest of the Ohio" — the larger 
area contemplated by Mr. Jefferson's bill 
not having been ceded by the Southern 
States claiming dominion over it. This bill 
embodied many of the provisions originally 
drafted and reported by Mr. Jefferson, but 
witli some modifications, and concludes with 
six unalterable articles of perpetual compact, 
the last of them as follows : 

" There shall be neither slavery nor involun- 
tary servitude, in the said territory, otherwise 
than in puiiisliniont of crimes, whereof the parties 
shall be duly convicted.'' 

To this was added, prior to its passage, 
.the stipulation for the delivery of fugi- 



tives from labor or service, soon after embo- 
died in the Federal Constitution ; and in 
this shape, the entire ordinance was adopted 
(July 13th) by a unanimous vote, Georgia 
and the Carolinas concurring. 

III. 

UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. 

The old Articles of Confederation having 
proved inadequate to the creation and main- 
tenance of a capable and efficient national or 
central authority, a Convention of Delegates 
from the several States, was legally assem- 
bled in Philadelphia, in 1787 — George AVash- 
ington President ; and the result of its labors 
was our present Federal Constitution, though 
some amendments, mainly of the nature of 
restrictions on Federal power, w-ere proposed 
by the several State Conventions assembled, 
to pass upon that Constitution, and adopted] 
The following are all the provisions of tha' 
instrument, which are presumed to relate 
the subject of Slavery : 

(Preamble) ; " We, the people of the United 
States, in order to form a more perfect Union, 
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, 
provide for the common defense, promote the ge- 
neral welfare, and eecure the blessings of liberty 
to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and 
establish this Constitution for the United States 
of America. 

" Art. I. § 1. All legislative powers herein 
granted, shall be vested in a Congress of the 
United States, which shall consist of a Senate and 
House of Representatives. 

" § 2, * * * Representatives and direct taxes 
shall be apportioned among the several States 
which may be included within this Union, accord- 
ing to their respective numbers, which shall be 
determined, by adding to the whole number of 
free persons, including those bound to servitude 
for a term of years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, threetifths of all other persons. 

" § 9. The migration or importation of such 
persons as any of the States now existing, shall 
think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by 
the Congress prior to the year 1808 ; but a tax or 
duty may be imposed, not exceeding ten dollars 
on each person. 

" The privilege of the writ of habeas ccn-pus 
shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of 
rebellion or invasion, the public safety may re- 
quire it. 

" No bill of attainder, or ex post facto laws 
shall be passed. 

" Art. III. § 3. Treason against the United 
States, shall consist only in levying war against 
them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. 

" Art. IV. $ 2. The citizens of each State shall 
be entitled to all the privileges of citizens, in the 
several States. 

" No person held to service or labor in ono 
State, under the laws thereof, escaping into 
another, shall, in consequence of any law or regu- 
lation tlierein, be discharged from such service or 
labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of tha 
l)arty to whom such service or labor may be 
due. 

''$3. New Slates may be admitted by the 
Congress into this Union ; but no new State shall 
be foi-med or erected within the jurisdiction of 
any other State ; nor any State be formed by the 
junction of two or more States, or parts of States, 



1/^ 



EARLY ATTEMPTS TO OVERRIDE THE ORDINANCE. 



without the consent of tlio lo;jiRlntuiC8 of the j 
States coni'ci lied, as well iih of llie Congress. 

•' The C«.M;;ress kIiiiII have power to tlwposo 
of, and make all needful rulen and refjnlalionH re- 
speitin'.'liielei-ritiiry or oilier nniiM-rty, belon^^ing 
to the United States : and iiotliin;,' in this Consti- 
tution shall bo no construed as to prejudice any 
claims of the United States, or of any particular 
State. 

'• $ -1 Tlio United States shall i;ninnnleo to 
overv State in this Union, a repuhlicaii form of 
government, and shall protect each of tliein 
n^jiiinst invasion ; and on application of the h-;,'is- 
lature, or of the executive wlien the lej^'isl.ituro 
cannot be convened, against, domestic violence. 

•' Art. VI. This Con.slilulion, and the laws of 
tlio United States, wliicli shall be made in pnr- 
Bunneo thereof, and all the treati<s made, or 
which shall be made, under the authority of the 
United States, shall be the supreme law id' the 
land; and tli<! judj^es in every State shall be 
bound thereby,' anything,' in the Ctnistitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstand- 
ing." 

The above arc all— and perhaps more than 
all— the clauses of the Constitution, that 
have been (luoted on one side or the other as 
beariuLi: upon the subject of Slavery. 
\ It will be noted that the word "slave," or 
•^slavery" does not appear therein. Mr. 
Madison, who was a leading and observant 
member of the Convention, and who took 
notes of its daily proceedings, affirms that 
this silence was desigtied — the Convention 
being unwilling that the Constitution of the 
United States should recognize property in 
human beings. In passages where slaves 
are presumed to be contemplated, they are 
uniformly designated as '• persons," never as 
property. Contemporary history proves 
that it was the belief of at least a large por- 
tion of the delegates that Slavery could not 
long survive the final stoppage of the slave- 
trade, -which was expected to (and did) occur 
in 1808. And, were Slavery this day bani.shed 
forever from the country, there might, indeed, 
be some superfluous stipulations in the 
Federal compact or charter ; but there are 
none which need be repealed, or essentially 
modified. 

A direct provision for the restoration of 
fugitive slaves to their masters was, at least 
once, voted down by the Convention. 
Finally, the clau.se respecting persons " held 
at service or labor," was proposed by 
Mr. Butler, of South Carolina, and adopted, 
•with little or no opposition. 

The following, among the amendments 
to the Constitution proposed by the 
ratifying conventions of one or more States, 
and adopted, are supposed by some to bear 
on the questions now agitated relative to 
Slavery : 

■' Art. I. Congress shall make no law respect- 
ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting 
the free exercise thereof; or abridging the free- 
dom of speech, or of the press ; or of the rights 
of the people peacefully to assemble, and to 
petition the Govenimeut for a redress of griev- 
au«.e& 

"Art. II. A well-regulated militia being neces- 



sary to the security of a free State, the right of 
the iieople to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed. 

"Art. V. No person shall be * ••deprived of 
life, liberty, or jiropeity, without due procuxs of 
law ; nor shall private |)roperty be taken for pub- 
lic use without JuKt couipuusatiou." 

IV. 

CESSIONS OF SOUTH KUX TKUIUTOKV. 

TiiK State of Kentucky wa.s .set olf from 
the State of Virginia in 1790, by mutual 
agreement, and admitted into the Union ijy 
act of Congres.s, pas,sed Feliruary 4tli. 1 791 ; 
to take effect June 1st, 1792. It was never 
ii territory of the United States, nor under 
Fedci-al jurisdiction, e.vcept as a State, and 
inherited Slavery from the ' Old Dominion.' 

The State of S'orth Carolina, like several 
others, claimed, during and after the Revolu- 
tion, that her territory extended westward to 
the Mississippi. The settlers west of the 
Aileganies resisted this claim, and a portion 
of them assumed to establish (1784-.')) the 
State of Frankland, in what is now East 
Tennessee ; but North Carolina forcibly re- 
sisted and subverted this, and a considerable 
portion of the people of the embryo State de- 
rided its authority, and continued to act iind 
vote as citizens of North Carolina. A dele- 
gate (William Cocke) was sent from Frank- 
land to the Continental Congress, but was 
not received by that body. On the 22nd of 
December, 1789, however — one month after 
her ratification of the Federal ('oiistitution — 
North Carolina passed an act, ceding, on 
certain conditions, all her territory west of 
her present limits to the United States. 
Among the conditions exacted by her, and 
agreed to, by Congress, (Act approver! April 
2nd, 1790) is the following : y 

"Provided alwai/s, that uo regulations made, or*^ 
to be made, by Congress shall tend to em;iiicipate 
slaves." 

Georgia, in like manner, ceded (April 2nd, 
1802) the territories lying west of her pro- 
sent limits, now forming the States of Ala- 
bama and Mississippi. Among the con- 
ditions exacted by her, and accepted by the 
United States, is the following : 

'• Fifthly. That the territory thus ceded shall be- 
come a State, and be admitted into the Union as 
soon as it shall contain sixty thousand free inhabit- 
ants, or, at an earlier period, if Conjo'css shall 
think it expedient, on the same conditions luid 
restrictions, with the same privileges, and in the 
fiamo manner, as is provided in the ordinance of 
Congress of the 13th day of July, 1787, for the 
government of the Western territory of the United 
States ; which ordinance shall, in all its parts, ex- 
tend to the territory contained in the present act 
of Cession, the article only excepted which forbids 
slavery." 



EARLY ATTEMPTS TO OVERRIDE THE 
ORDINAXOE. 

When Ohio (1802-3) was made a 
State, the residue of the vast regions, 



6 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



originally convoyed by the ordiniuice of 
'87, \v;is' continued under Federal pupilag-e, 
by the name of - Indiana Territory," whereof 
"\Vni. JIciH-y Harrison (since President) wa^ 
appointed Governor.. An earnest though 
quiet effort was made by the Virginia ele- 
ment, which the location of her military 
bounty warrants on the soil of Ohio had in- 
fused into that embryo State, to have 
Slavery for a limited term authorized in her 
first CiMistitntion ; but it was stremiously re- 
sisted by the New England element, which 
was far more considerable, and defeated. The 
Virginians either had or professed to have the 
countenance of President Jefferson, though 
his hostility to Slavery, as a permanent social 
state, was undoubted.' It was quite commonly 
argued that, though Slavery was injurious in 
the long run, yet, as an expedient while 
clearing away the heavy forests, opening 
settlements in the wilderness, and surmounting 
the inevitable hardships and privations of 
border life, it might be tolerated, and even 
regarded with favor. Accordingly, the new- 
Territory of Indiana made repeated efforts to 
procure a relaxation in her favor of the re- 
strictive clause of the Ordinance of '87, one of 
them through the instrumentality of a Con- 
vention assembled in 1802-3, and presided 
over by the Territorial Governor ; so he, 
with the great body of his fellow-delegates, 
memorialized Congress, among other things, 
to suspend temporarily the operation of the 
sixth article of the Ordinance aforesaid. 
This memorial was referred iu the House to 
& select committee of three, two of them 
from Slave States, with the since celebrated 
John Randolph as chairman. On the 2nd of 
March, 1803, Mr. Randolph made what ap- 
pears to have been a unanimous report from 
this Committee, of which we give so much as 
relates to Slavery — as follows : 

" The rapid population of the State of Ohio 
suflficiently evinces, in the opinion of your com- 
mittee, that the liibor of slaves is not necessary 
to promote the growth and settlement of colonies 
ill that region. That this labor — demonstrably 
the dearest of any — can only be employed in the 
cultivation of products more valuable than any 
known to that quarter of the United States ; that 
the Committee deem it highly dangerous and in- 
expedient to impair a provision wisely calculated 
to promote the happiness and prosperity of the 
northwestern country, and to give strength and 
Becurity to that extensive frontier. In the salutary 
operation of this sagacious and benevolent re- 
Btraiiit, it ia believed that the inhabitants of In- 
diana will, at no very distant day, find ample re- 
muneration for a temporary privation of labor, 
and ot' emigration." 

The Committee proceed to discuss other 
sulijects set forth in the prayer of the memo- 
rial, ami conclude with eight resolves, whereof 
the only one relating to Slavery is as fol- 
lows : 

" lirxolved, That it is inexpedient to suspend, for 
a limited time, the operation of the sixth article of 
the compact between the original States and the 
people and States west of the river Ohio." 



This Report, having been made at the close 
of the Session, was referred at the next to a 
new Committee, whereof Caesar Rodney, a 
new Representative from Delaware, was 
Chairman. Mr. Rodney from this Commit- 
tee reported (February 17th, 1804), 

" That, taking into their consideration the fact8 
stated in the said memorial and petition, they are 
iiidu<-ed to believe that a qualified suspension, for 
a limited time, of the sixth article of compact be- 
tween the original States and the people and 
States west of the river Ohio, might be produc- 
tive of benefit and advantage to said Territory.', 

The Report goes on to discuss the other 
topics embraced in the Indiana memorial, and 
concludes with eight resolves, of which the 
first (and only one relative to Slavery) is as 
follows : 

'^Resolved, That the si.xth article of the Or- 
dinance of 1787, which prohibited Slavery 
within the said TeiTitory, be suspended in a 
qualified manner, for ten years, so as to pemiit 
the introduction of slaves, born within the United 
States, from any of the individual States ; pro- 
vided, that such "individual State does not permit 
the importation of slaves from foreign countries : 
and provided, further, that the descendants of 
all such slaves shall, if males, be free at the age 
of twenty-five years, and, if females, at the age 
of twenty-one years." 

The House took no action on this Report. 
The original memorial from Indiana, with 
several additional memorials of like purport, 
was again, in 1805-6, referred by the House 
to a select committee, whereof iSlr. Garnett 
of Virginia was chairman, who, on the 14tli 
of February, 1806, made a report in favor of 
the prayer of the petitioners — as follows : 

That, having attentively considered the facts 
stated in the said petitions and memorials, they 
are of opinion that a qualified suspension, for a 
limited time, of the sixth article of compact be- 
tween the original States, and the people and 
States west of the river Ohio, would be beneficial 
to the people of the Indiana Territory. The sus- 
pension of this article is an object almost univer- 
sally desired in that Territory. 

It appears to your committee to be a question 
entirely difierent from that between Slavery and 
Freedom ; inasmuch as it would merely occasion 
the removal of persons, already slaves, from one 
part of the country to another. The good effects 
of this suspension, in the present instance, would 
be to accelerate tlie population of that Territory, 
hitlierto retarded by the operation of that article 
of compact, as slave-holders emigrating into the 
Western country might then indulge any prefer- 
ence which they might feel for a settlement in 
the Indiana Territory, instead of seeking, as they 
are now compelled to do, settlements in other 
States or countries permitting the introduction of 
slaves. The condition of the slaves themselves 
would be much ameliorated by it, as it is evident, 
from experience, that the more they are separated 
and diffused, the more care and attention are be 
stowed on them by their masters — each proprietor 
having it in his power to increase their comforts 
and conveniences, iu proportion to the smallness 
of their numbers. The dangers, too, (if any are 
to be apprehended) from too largo a black popu- 
lation existing in any one section of country, 
would certainly bo very much diminished, if not 
entirely removed. But, whether dangers are to 
be feared from this source or not, it is certainly an 
obvious dictate of sound policy to guard against 



EARLY ATTEMPTS TO OVERRIDE THE ORDINANCE. 



them, ns far hb possible. If lliiB tlnnnor docs ex- 
ist, or thcic is iiiiy caiiso to ni)i)n-li<>ii(l it, and our 
^Vt'steiii l>i(tliic"ii aiv not Only willing' but desi 
rous to aid um in taking' piccaulioiis at;aiiiHl it. 
would it not be wist^ to ncc(<i>t tticir assistaiico ? 

We tliould iRMicfil ourselves, without injunup 
thciii, as their i)0|ndalioii must always so far ex 
coed any blaek poiiulation whieli eaii ever exist in 
that eoiintry, as to render the idea of danger from 
tlmt sourco'chiinerieal. 

Al'ter cli.'^cii.ssin<; otluT sul)ji'('ts embodied 
in the liuliana iiu'iiiorial, tlie foiiiniittee close 
witli a series of Ke-solves, whieh they eoiii- 
liKMul to the adoption of the House. The 
first and only one g-erinane to our sulyect 
is as follows : 

lifso/rt-d. That, tlio sixth nrtielo of the Ordi- 
nnnco of 1787, which prohibits Slavery within 
tbc Indiana Territory, bo suspended for ten 
years, so as to permit the introduetion of sl.nves, 
born within tho United States, from any of the 
individual States. 

This report and resolve were committed 
and made a special order on the Monday 
following, but were never taken into consid- 
eration. 

At the next session, a fresh letter from 
Gov. "William Henry Harrison, inclosing re- 
solves of the Legislative Council and House 
of Representatives in favor of suspending, for 
a limited period, the sixth article of compact 
aforesaid, was received (Jan. 21st, 1807) and 
referred to a .Select Committee, whereof Mr. 
B. Farke. delegate from said Territory, was 
made chairman. The entire Committee (Mr. 
Nathaniel Macon of N. C. being now Speak- 
er) consisted of 

Messrs. Alston of N. C. Rhea of Tcnn. 

Miisters of N. Y. Sandford of Ky. 

Morrow of Ohio. Trigg of Va. 

Parke of Ind. 

Mr. Parke, from this Committee, made 
(Feb. 12th,) a third Report to the House in 
favor of granting the prayer of the memo- 
rialists. It is as follows : 

" The resolutions of tho Legislative Council 
and House of Representatives of the Indiana Ter- 
ritory, relate to a suspension, for the term of ten 
years, ot the sixth article of compact between the 
United States and the Territories and Stute.s nortli- 
westof the river Ohio, passed the 13th July, 1787. 
That article declares that there shall be neither 
Slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said 
Territory. 

"The suspension of the said article would ope- 
rate an immediate and essential benetit to the Ter- 
ritory, as emigration to it will be inconsiderable for 
many years, except from those States where Sla- 
very is tolerated. 

" And although it is not considered expedient to 
force the population of tho Territory, yet it is de- 
sirable to connect its scattered settlements, and, in 
admitted political rights, to place it on an equal 
footing with the difl'erent States. Krou'. the inte- 
rior situation of the Territory, it is not believed 
tliat .slaves could ever become so numerous as to 
endanger the internal peace or future prosperity 
of the country. The cun-ent of emigration flow- 
ing to the Western country, the Territories should 
all be opened to their introduction. The abstr;u;t 
question of Liberty and Slavery is not involved in 
the proposed measure, as Slavery now exists to a 
considerable extent in different parts of the Union ; 



it woulil not augment the number of slaves, but 
merely aulhori/c the removid to Indiana of such 
as are held in bondage in the Uniteil States, If 
Slavery is an evil, means ought to be devised to 
rentier it least dangerous to the community, and 
by which the hapless situation of the slaves would 
be most ami liorated ; anci to accomplish tlnse ob- 
jects, no measure would be so effectuid as the 
one proposed. The C'onnnittee, iherefore, ro- 
spectfully submit to the House tho followinR reso- 
lution : 

" Rcstilrfd, That it is e.^jiedient to susnoiid, 
from and after tht^ 1st day of .laimary, IHOR, lliti 
sixtli article of coni|)act bel ween the I'niled Statej 
and the Territories and States northwest of the 
Ohio, passed the i;{th day of July, 1787, for the 
term often years." 

This report, with its predecessors, was 
committed, and made a special order, but 
never taken into consideration. 



The same letter of Gen. Harrison, and re- 
solves of the Indiana Legislature, were sub- 
mitted to the Senate, Jan. 21st, 1807. They 
were laid on the table " for consideration," 
and do not appear to have even been referred 
at that session ; but at the next, or first scs^ 
sion of the fourth Congress, whicli convened 
Oct. 2Gth, 1807, the President (Nov. 7th) 
submitted a letter from Gen. 1 larrison and his 
Legislature — whether a new or the old one 
does not appear — and it was now referred to 
a select committee, consisting of Messrs. J. 
Franklin of N. C, Kitchel of N. J., and 
Tiffin of Ohio. 

Nov. loth, Mr. Franklin, from said com- 
mittee, reported as follows : 

" The Legislative Council and House of Rep- 
resentatives, in their resolutions, express their 
sense of the propriety of introducing Slavery into 
their Territory, and solicit the Congress of th» 
United States to suspend, for a given number of 
years, the sixth article of compact, in the ordi- 
nance for the government of the Territory north- 
west of the Oliio, passed the VMh day of July, 
1787. That article declares : ' There .^hnll bo nei 
ther Slavery nor involuntary servitude within tho 
said Territory.' 

" The citizens of Clark County, in their remon- 
strance, express their sense of the impropriety of 
the measure, and solicit the Congress of th« 
United States not to act on the subject, so as to 
permit tho introduction of slaves into the Terri- 
tory; at lea.et, until their population shall entitla 
them to form a constitution and State govern- 
ment. 

" Your Committee, after duly considering the 
matter, respectfully submit the following resolu- 
tion : 

" Resolved, That it is not expedient at this time 
to suspend the sixth article of compact for tho 
government of the Territory of the United States 
northwest of the River Ohio." 

And here ended, so far as we have been 
able to discover, the effort, so long and earn- 
estly persisted in, to procure a suspension of 
the restriction in the Ordinance of 1787. so as 
to admit Slavery, for a limited term, into the 
Terrritory lying between the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi rivers, now forming the States of 
Ohio. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and "Wis- 
consin. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



/ 



VI. 

THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 

The vast aud iudefiiiitc territory known 
as Louisiana, wa.s ceded by France to the 
United States in the year 1803, for the sum 
of §15,000,000, of which ,^3,750,000 was de- 
voted to the paj'meut of American claims on 
France. This t<'rritory had just before been 
ceded by Spain^to France witliout pecuniary 
consideration. Slaveholding had long been 
legal therein, alike under Spanish and French 
rule, and the Treaty of Cession contained 
the following stipulation : 

" Art. III. The inhabitants of the ceded terri- 
tory shall be incorporated into the Union of the 
United States, and admitted as soon as possible, 
according to the principles of the Federal Consti- 
tution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advan- 
tages and immunities of citizens of the United 
States ; and in the mean time they shall be main- 
tained and protected in the free enjoyment of 
tlieir liberty, property, and the religion which 
they profess." 

The State of Louisiana, embodying the 
southern portion of this acquired territory, 
was recognized by Congress in 1811, aud 
fully admitted in 1812, with a State Consti- 
tution. Those who chose to dwell among 
the inhabitants of the residue of the Lou- 
isiana purchase, henceforth called Missouri 
Territory, continued to hold slaves in its 
sparse and small, but increasing settlements, 
mainly in its southeastern quarter, and a 
pro-slavery court — perhaps any court — 
would undoubtedly have pronounced Sla- 
very legal anywhere on its vast expanse, 
from the Mississippi to the crests of the 
Rocky Mountains, if not beyond them, and 
from the lied River of Louisiana to the Lake 
of the Woods. 

llie XVth Congress assembled at Wash- 
ington, on Monday, Dec. 1st, 1817. Henry 
Clay was chosen Speaker of the House. Mr. 
John Scott appeared on the 8th, as delegate 
from Missouri Territory, aud was admitted 
to a seat as such. On the 16th of March fol- 
lowing, he presented petitions of sundry in- 
habitants of Missouri, in addition to similar 
petitions already presented by him, praying for 
the admission of Missouri into the Union as 
a State, which were, on motion, referred to a 
Select Committee, consisting of 

Messrs. Scott of Mo. Poindexter of Misa. Ro- 
bertson of Ky. Hendricks of Ind. Livermore 
ofN. H. Mills of Mass. Baldwin of Pa. 

April ,3rd, Mr. Scott, from this Commit- 
tee, reported a bill to authorize the People 
of Missouri Territory to form a Constitution 
and State Government, and for the admission 
of such State into the Union on an equal 
footmg with the original States ; which bill 
wa.s reatl the first and second time, and sent 
to the Committee of the Whole, where it 
slept for the remainder of the session. 

That Congress convened at Washington 



for its second session, on the 16th of Novem- 
ber, 1818. Feb. 13th, the House went into 
Committee of the Whole — Gen. Smith, of 
Md., in the chair — and took up the Missouri 
bill aforesaid, which was considered through 
that sitting, as also that of the 1,5th, when 
several amendments were adopted, the most 
important of which was the following, moved 
in Committee by Gcu. James Tallmadge, of 
Dutchess County, New York, (lately de- 
ceased :) 

"And provided also, That the further introduc- 
tion of Slavery or involuntary servitude be pro- 
hibited, except for the punishment of crimes, 
whereof the party shall be duly convicted : and 
that all children of slaves, bom within the said 
State, after the admission thereof into the Union , 
shall be free, but may be held to service until the 
age of twenty-five years." 

On coming out of Committee, the Yeas and 
Nays were called on the question of agreeing 
to this amendment, which was sustained by 
the following vote : [taken first on agreeing 
to so much of it as precedes aud includes the 
word " convicted."] 

YEAS— For the Restriction : 

New Hampshire. — Clifton Clagett, Samuel 
Halo, Arthur Livermore, Nathaniel Upham — 4. 

Massachusetts— (then including Maine). — 
Benjamin Adams, Samuel C. Allen, Walter Fol- 
ger, jr., Timothy Fuller, Joshua Gage, Enoch 
Lincoln, Elijah H. Mills, Marcus Morton, Jere- 
miah Nelson, Benjamin Orr, Thomas Kice, Na- 
thaniel Ituggles, Zabdiel Sampson, Nathaniel 
Silsbee, John Wilson — 15. 

Khode Island. — James B.Mason — 1. 

Connecticut. — Sylvester Gilbert, Ebenezer 
Huntington, Jonathan O. Moseley, Timothy Pit- 
kin, Samuel B. Sherwood, Nathaniel Terry, Tho- 
mns S. Williams — 7. 

Vermont. — Samuel C. Crafts, William Hunter, 
Orsamus C. Merrill, Charles Rich, Mark Rich- 
ards — 5. 

New-York, — Oliver C. Comstock, John P. 
Cushman, John R. Drake, Benjamin Ellicott Jo- 
siah Hasbrouck, John Herkimer, Thomas H. 
Hubbard, William Irving, Dorrance Kirtland, 
Thomas Lawyer, John Palmer, John Savage, 
Philip J. Schuyler, John C. Spencer, Treadwell 
Scudder, James Tallmadge, JohnW. Taylor, Ca- 
leb Tompkins, Geo. Townsend, Peter H. Wen- 
dover, Rensselaer Westerlo, James W. Wilkin, 
Isaac Williams — 23. 

New-Jersey. — Ephraim Bateman, Benjamin 
Bennett, Charles Kinsey, John Lmn, Henry 
Southard — 5. 

Pennsylvania. — William Anderson, Andrew 
Bodcn, Isaac Darlington, Joseph Heister, Joseph 
Hopkinson, Jacob llostetter, William Maclay, 
William P. Maclay, David Marchand, Robert 
Moore, Samuel Moore, John Murray, Ale.xiuider 
Ogle, Thomas Patterson, Levi Pawling, Thomas 
J. Rogers, John Sergeant, James M. Wallace, 
John Whiteside, William Wilson — i20. 

Ohio. — Levi Barber, Philemon Beecher, John 
W. Campbell, Samuel Herrick, Peter Hitchcock 
— 5. 

Indiana. — William Hendricks — 1. 

Delaware.— Willard Hall— 1. 

Total Yeas 87 — only one (the last named) 

from a Slave State. 

NAYS — Against the Restriction: 

Massachusetts. — John Holmes, Jonathan 
Mason, Henry Shaw — 3. 



THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



New York. — Dnnicl Crugcr, David A. Oj?dcn, 
Hoiiry K. Slorrs — 'A. 

New J i:ksky. — .losopli Hlooinfield— 1, 

NewIIami'siiihk— JkImi F. I'urrott— 1. 

Ohio.— Willinin llcinv IliiiriMnn— 1. 

Illinois— John MoU-iiii— 1. [10 from Free 
States.] 

Dklavvauk. — Louis McLanc — 1. 

Makyi.am).— Ardiibiild AtL-Atin/nioinafl IJayly; 
Thuuias (;ulbrotli, IVtcr Little, (tci)it;o IVtiT, 
l'hiri|( Kccd, SdiiiuL'l Kini,';,'old, Siiinuel Smitii, 
riiiliiiSiuiirt— !♦. 

ViiuiiNiA.— Willinm Lee Unll, Philip P. Unr 
boar, Huiwull Hiissclt, William A. IJunvcU, Ed- 
ward Colston, Ivobert S. (jiiriiett, Jimuti JoliiiMou, 
William .). Lewis, William McCoy, Hugh NelHoii, 
Thoma.s M. N'elsoii, John Pot^ram, James I'iikIhII. 
JaiiKs Pleasants, IJalhird Smith. Alexander 
Smvth, Henry St. Geor;,'c Tucker, John Tyler— 
18.' 

NoKTH Carolina.— Joseph IT. Urynii, William 
Davidson, Weldon N. Edwards, Charles Fisher, 
Thomas 11. Hall, Jame.s Owen. Lemuel Sawyer, 
Thomas Little, Jesse Slocumb, James O. Smith, 
James Stewart. Felix Walker, Lewis Williams— 
13. 

8oCTH Carolina.— James Ervin, William 
Lowndes, Henry iMiddleton, Wilsou Nesbitt, El- 
bert Simkins, Sterlintr Tucker- 6. 

Georuia.— Joel Abbot, Thomas W. Cobb, Za- 
doc Cook, William Terrell — 4. 

Kk.ntuckv.— Richard C. Anderson, jr., Joseph 
Desha, Kichard M. Johnson, Anthony New, 
Thomas Newton, George liobertson, Thomas 
Speed, David Trimble, David Walker— 9. 

Ten.n'ksske.— William G. lilount, Francis 
Jones, George W. L Marr, John Uhea — 1. 

Mississippi. — George Poindexter — L 

Louisiana.— Thomas Butler — I. 

Totiil Naj'S, 7G— 10 from Free States, 66 
from Slave States. 

The House now proceeded to vot€ on the 
residue of tlie reported aineiidinent [from the 
word "convicted"' above], which was like- 
wise sustained. — Yeas 8'2 ; Nays 78. 

Messrs. Barber and Campbell of Ohio, Linn of 
N. J., and Mason of R. L, who on the former divi- 
sion voted Yea, now voted Nay. 

Messrs. Schuyler and Wcsterlo of N. Y. (Yeas 
before) did not vote now. Gen. Smith of Md. 
changed from Nay before to Yea now. 

So the whole amendment — as moved by 
Gen. Tallmadge in Committee of the Whole, 
and there carried — was sustained when report- 
ed to the House. 

Mr. Storrs of New-York (opposed to 
the Restriction), now moved the striking out 
of so much of the bill as provides that the 
new State shall be admitted into the Union 
" on an equal footing with the original 
States" — which, he contended, was nullified 
by the votes just taken. The House nega- 
tived the motion. 

Me.ssrs Desha of Ky., Cobb of Ga., and 
Rhea of Tenn., declared against the bill as 
amended. 

Messrs. Scott of Mo., and Anderson of 
Ky., preferred the bill as amended to nunc. 

The House ordered the bill, as amended, 
to a third reading ; Yeas 98 ; Nays 56. The 
bill thus pas.sed the House next day, and was 
sent to the Senate. 

The following sketch of the debate on this 



question (Feb. 15th) appears in the Appen- 
di.\ to Nilcs's Register, vul. .xvi. 

HOUSE OK REPUE.SENTATIVES, FEB. 15, 181'J. 

Mr. Tallmadge, of New York, having 
moved the following amendment, on tlic Saturday 
preceding — 

''Anil provided that, llic iiilrodiictioa of Slavery, 
or iiivoluiiliiri/ .lert'itudc, 6c prohi/ii/i'd, except 
for the punish nwnt of cri7nci>, wlu-rvof lUr. pnrly 
has been duly convicted, and that all rhi/drcH, 
horn within the said State, after thi\ admifsion 
thereof into the Union, shall be declared free at 
the a({c of '23 years." 

Mr. Fi'i.r.i^R, of Mafisachu.sett.'J, said, that 
in llu! ailmission of new States into the I'ninn lio 
consider<Ml that Congress had a (liscrttinnary 
power. By the 4tli article and :<d section of tho 
Constitution, Congress arc authorized to ailmit 
them ; but nothing in that section, or in any part 
of the Constitution, enjoins tho admission as im- 
perative, under any circumstances. If it were 
otherwise, he would reipiest gentlemen to point 
out what were the circumstances or conditions 
precedent, which being found to exist, Congresa 
must admit the new State. All discrelinn would, 
in such case, be taken from Congress, Mr. F. said, 
and deliberation would bo useless. The lion, 
speaker (Mr. Clay) has said that Congress has no 
right to prescribe any condition whatever to tho 
newly-organized States, but must admit them by a 
siiniiie act, leaving their sovcniguty unrestricted. 
[Here the speaker e.xplaiucil — lie did nit intend 
to be understood in so broad a sense as Mr. F. 
stated.] With the explanation of tho honorable 
gentleman, Mr. F. said, 1 still think his ground aa 
untenable as before. We certainly have u right, 
and our duly to the nation requires, that we should 
examine tho actual state of things in the proposed 
State; and, above all, the Constitution expre.-isly 
makes a kepublica.s form of s^overnntrn/ in tho 
several States a fundamental principle, to be pro- 
served under the sacred guarantee of the national 
legislature.— [Art. 4, sec. 4.] It clearly, therefore, 
is the duty of Congress, before admitting a new 
sister into the Union, to ascertain that her consti- 
tution or form of government is republican. Now, 
sir, the amendment proposed by the gentleman 
from New York, Mr. Tallmadge, merely requiree 
that Slavery shall be probibited in Missouri. Does 
this imjjly anything more than that its constitu- 
tion shall be republican .' The existence of Slavery 
in any State is, so far, a departure from rejiubii- 
can priiHiiples. The Declaration of Independence, 
penned by the illustrious statesman then, and at 
this time, a citizen of a State which admits Slave- 
ry, defines the principle on which our naticinal 
and state constitutions are all professedly founded. 
The second paragraph of that instrument begins 
thus : " We hold these truths to be self evident — 
that all men arc created equal — that they arc en- 
dowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
rights; that among these are life, LinEUTY, and 
the pursuit of happiness.'' Since, then, it cannot 
be denied that slaves are men, it follows that they 
are, in a purely republican government, born//-c<;, 
and are entitled to liberty and the pursuit of hap- 
piness. [Mr. Fuller was hen; interrupted by seve- 
ral gentlemen, who thought it improper to ques- 
tion in debate the republican character of the 
slave-holding States, which had also a tendency, 
as one gentleman (Mr. Colston, of Virginia) said, 
to deprive those States of the right to hold slaves 
as property, and he adverted to the probability 
that there might be slaves in the gallery, listening 
to the debate.] Mr. F. assured the gentleman 
that nothing Wius farther from his thoughts, than 
to question on that floor, the right of Virginia and 
other States, which held slaves when tho Cousti- 



10 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



tutioa was established, to continue to hold them. 
S\'ith tliat subject the National LeKis<latuie could 
not iutirfere, and ought not to attempt it. But, 
Mr. t'. continued, if gentlemen will be patient, 
they will see that my remarks will neithcT dero- 
gate from the constitutional righls of the States, 
nor from a due respect to their several forma of 
government. Sir, it is my wish to a/lai/, and not 
to excite local animosities, but I shall never re- 
frain from advancing such arguments in debate as 
my duty requires, nor do I believe that the read- 
ing of our Declaration of Independence, or a dis- 
cussion of republican principles on any occasion, 
can endanger the rights, or merit the disapproba- 
tion of any porton of the Union. 

My reason, Mr. Chairman, for recurring to the 
Declaration of our Independence, was to draw 
from an authority admitted in all parts of the 
Union, a delinition of the basis of republican 
government. If, then, all men have equal rights, 
it can no more comport with the principles of a 
free government to exclude men of a certain color 
from the enjoj'ment of " liberty and the pursuit 
of happiness," than to exclude those who have 
not attained a certain portion of wealth, or a cer- 
tain stature of body, or to found the exclusion ou 
any other capricious or accidental circumstance. 
Suppose Missouri, before her admission as a 
State, were to submit to us her Constitution, by 
"which no person could elect, or be elected to any 
office, unless he possessed a clear annual income 
of twenty thousand dollars ; and suppose we had 
ascertained that only Jive, or a very small num- 
ber of persons had such an estate, would this be 
anything more or less than a 7-eal aristocracy , 
under a form nominally republican ? Election 
and representation, which some contend are the 
only essential principles of republics, would exist 
only in name — a shadow without substance, a 
body without a soul. But if all the other inhabit- 
ants were to be made slaves, and mere property 
of the favored few, the outrage ou principle would 
be still more palpable. Yet, sir, it is demonstra- 
ble, that the exclusion of the black population 
from all political freedom, and making them the 
property of the whites, is an equally i)alpable in- 
vasion of 1 ight, and abandonment of principle. If 
we do this in the admission of new l^^tatcs, we vio- 
late the Constitution, and we have not now the 
excuse which existed when our National Constitu- 
tion was established. Then, to effect a concert 
of interests, it was proper to make concessions. 
The Stales where Slavery existed not only claimed 
the right to continue it, but it was manifest that a 
general emancipation of slaves could not be asked 
of them. Their political existence would have 
been in jeopardy ; both masters and slaves must 
have been involved in the most fatal conse- 
quences. 

To guard against such intolerable evils, it is 
proviiied in the Constitution, "that the migration 
or imjjortation of such j>ersons, as any of the ex- 
■istiiii,' States think proper to admit, shall not be 
prohibited till 1808."— Art. 1, sec. 9. And it is 
provided elsewhere, that persons held to service 
by the laws of any State, shall be given up by 
other Stales, to which they may have escaped, 
etc. — Art. 4, sec. 2. 

These provisions effectually recognized the 
right in the States, which, at the time of framing 
the Constitution, held the blacks in Slavery, to 
continue so to hold them until they should think 
proper to meliorate their condition. The Consti- 
tution is a compact among all the States then ex- 
isting, by which certjiin principles of government 
are established for tlie whole, and for each indi- 
vidual State. Tlw predomiiinnt principle in both 
rcs[)ects is, that .\li. mkn are fkke, and have an 
EQUAL lUGHT TOLiuKinr, and all other privi- 
leges; or, in other words, the predominant princi- 
ple is UEi'UBLiCA.sisM, iu its largest sense. But, 



then, the same compact contains certain excep- 
tions. The States then holding slaves are per- 
mitted, from the necessity of the case, and for the 
sake of union, to exclude the republican principle 
so far, and o/i/y so far, as to retain their slaves in 
servitude, and also their progeny, as had been the 
usage, until they should think it proper or safe to 
conform to the pure principle, by abolishing Sla- 
very. The compact contains on its face the 
general principle and the exceptions. But the 
attempt to extend Slavery to the new States, is in 
direct violation of the clause, which guarantees 
a republican form of government to all the States. 
This clause, indeed, must be construed iu connec- 
tion with the exceptions before mentioned ; but it 
cannot, without violence, be applied to any other 
States than those in which Slavery was allowed 
at the formation of the Constitution. 

The honorable speaker cites the first clause in 
the 'id section of the 4th article—" The citizens of 
each State shall bo entitled to all the privileges 
and immunities of citizens of the several States," 
which he thinks would be violated by the condi- 
tion proposed in the Constitution of Missouri. To 
keep slaves — to make one portion of the popula- 
tion the property of another, hardly deserves to 
be called a privilege, since what is gained by the 
masters must be lost by the slaves. But, inde- 
pendently of this consideration, I think the ob- 
servations already offered to the committee, show- 
ing that holding the black population in servitude 
is an exception to the general principles of the 
Constitution, and cannot be allowed to extend be- 
yond the fair import of the terms by which that 
exception is provided, are a sufficient answer to 
the objection. The gentleman proceeds iu the 
same train of reasoning, and asks, if Congress can 
require one condition, how many more can be re- 
quired, and where these conditions will end .' With 
regard to a republican constitution, Congress are 
obliged to require that condition, and that ia 
enough for the present question ; but I contend, 
further, that Congress has a right, at their discre- 
tion, to require any other reasonable condition. 
Several others were required of Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois and Mississippi. The State of Louisiana, 
which was a part of the territory ceded to us at 
the same time with Missouri, was required to pro- 
vide in her Constitution for trials by jury, the writ 
of habeas corpus, the principles of civil and reli- 
gious liberty, with several others, peculiar to that 
State. These, certainly, are none of them more 
indispensable ingredients in a republican form of 
government than the equality of privileges of all 
the population ; yet these have not been denied to 
be reasonable, and warranted by the National 
Constitution in the admission of new States. Nor 
need gentlemen apprehend that Congress will set 
no reasonable limits to the conditions of admis- 
sion. In the exercise of their constitutional dis- 
cretion on this subject, they are, as in all other 
cases, responsible to the people. Their power to 
levy direct taxes is not limited by the Couslitn- 
tion. They may lay a tax of one million of dollars, 
or of a hundred millions, without violating the 
letter of the Constitution; but if the latter enor- 
mous and unreasonable sum were levied, or oven 
the former, without evident necessity, the people 
have the power in their own hands — a speedy 
corrective is found in the return of the elections. 
Tliis remedy is so certain, that the representatives 
of Ihc people can never lose sight of it ; and, con- 
setiuently, an abuse of their powers to any con- 
siderable extent can never be apprehended. The 
same reasoning applies to the exercise of all the 
powers entrusted to Congress, and the admission 
of new States into the Union is in no respect an 
exception. 

One gentleman, however, has contended against 
the amendment, because it abridges the rights of 
the slaveholding States to transport theii- slaves 



THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



11 



to the new States, for bmIo or otliorwiso. This nr- 
gumont i« iilttMiiiitfil to ho enforced in viirious 
•ways, niul imrticuliirlv by tlio cliuii-e in the Con 
Btit'ntiun Inst ciled. It ndniit-s, however, ot u very 
flenr iinswtr, hv reeiirrinf,' to the Itlii section ol 
arlicle \M, wliiJli provides that " tlie mif;ralii>n 
or iinportutioii of such i.ersons us any ol the States 
♦hon existini; shall admit, shall not he i.rnhihiled 
■ by Con-ress till I80S.' This (dearly iiniihes that 
tlio mi-^nntiommiX importation may he prohibited 
aper that year. The importation has been pro- 
liil)iled, but thenii;,'iation has not liilherto been re- 
etrained ; (.^ouiiress, however, may restrain it, when 
it mav 1)0 jiuh^'ed expedient. It is, indee<l, con- 
tended l)y ^loIne^'elltlemt•n, that nri','ration is either 
Bvnonvmous with importation, or tliat it means 
someliiini; ditVereiit from the traiisportatioii ot 
Blnves from one State to another. It eeriamly is 
not aynonyinous with imimrtalion, and would not 
bnve been used if it had been so. It cannot mean 
export lit ion, which is also a delinite and precise 
toim. It cannot mean the reception of/m- blacks 
from forei^'ii conntriis, as is ulleu'ed by some, be- 
cause no jiossiblo reason existed for regulatinj; 
their admission by the Constitution; no free 
blacks over came from Africa, or any other couii- 
trv, to tliis; and to introduce the provision by the 
Bide of that for the importation of slaves, would 
have been absurd in the highest degree, \yhat 
alternative remains but to ujiply the term " uii;,'ra 
tion" to the Li-ansportation of slaves from those 
States, where they arc admitted to be held, to 
other States. Such a provision might have in 
view a very natural object. The price of slaves 
might be ntleetod so fa'r by a sudden prohibition 
to iransjiort slaves from State to State, tliat it was 
as reasonable to guard against that inconvenience 
ns against the sudden interdiction of the importa- 
tion. Hitherto it has not been found necessjiry 
for Congress to prohibit migration or transport- 
ation from State to State. But now it becomes the 
right and duty of Congress to guard against the 
further extension of the intolerable evil and the 
crving enormity of Slavery. 

The expediency of this measure is very appa- 
rent. The oi)ening of m\ extensive slave market 
will tempt the cupidity of those who, otherwise, 
perhaps, might gradually emancipate their slaves. 
We have heard much, Mr. Chairman, of the Colo- 
nization Society ; an institution which is the fa- 
vorite of the humane gentlemen in the slavehold- 
ing States. They have long been lamenting the 
miseries of Slavery, and earnestly seeking for a 
remedy compatible with their own safety, and the 
happiness ot their slaves. At last the great deside- 
ratum is found — a colony in Africa for the eman- 
cipated blacks. How will the generous intentions 
of these humane persons be frustrated, if the price 
of slaves is to be doubled by anew and boundless 
market! Instead of emancipation of the slaves, 
it is much to be leared, that unprincipled wretches 
will be found kidnapping those who are already 
free, and transporting and selling tlio hapless vic- 
tims into hopeless bondage. Sir, I really hope 
tliat Coiifjress will not contribute to discounte- 
nance and render abortive the generous and phi- 
lanthropic views of this most worthy and laudable 
society. Kather let us hope, that the time is not 
very remote, when the shores of Africa, which 
h;ivo so long been a scene of barbarous rapacity 
and savage cruelty, shall exhibit a race of free 
and enlightened people — the offspring, indeed, of 
cannibals or of slaves; but displaying the virtues 
of civilization and the energies of independent 
freemen. America may then hope to see the de- 
velopement of a germ, now scarcely visible, cher- 
ished and matured under the genial warmth of 
our country's protection, till the fruit shall ai)pear 
in the regeneration and happiness of a boundless 
continent. 
One argument still remains to be noticed. It is 



said, that wo are bound, by tlio treaty of cession 
with France, to admit the ceded territory into the 
Union, "as roon as ijossible." It is obvious 
that tlie I'lesidcnt and Senate, the treaty making 
power, cannot make u stipulation with any tor- 
eign nation in derogation of the constitutional 
powers and iluties of this Houso, by making it 
imperative on us to admit the new territory uc- 
eoriling to lh<- literal lem.r of the plira.se; but tllO 
additional words in the trculy, "according to tho 
principles ot' the Constitution," put it beyond all 
doubt that no such compulsory ailmission wu» 
intended, and that the republican i>riiic,i)les of our 
Coiislitulion are to govern us in IJie admission of 
this, as well as all the new Slates, in tho national 
fiunily. 

Mr. T.vi.LMADGE, of New York, rose — 

Sir, said he, it lins been my desire and my inten- 
tion to avoid any debate on the present painful 
and unpleasant subject. When I had the honor 
to submit to this House the amendinenl now under 
consideration. I accomnanied it with a declara- 
tion that it was intendea to conline its operation 
to the newly ac(iuired territory across the Missis- 
sippi ; and i then expressly d(;(dared, (hal I would 
in no nKiiiner intermeddle with the slaviholding 
States, nor attempt manumission in any one of the 
original States in the Union. Sir, 1 even went 
further, and stated that I was aware of the deli- 
cacy of the subject— and, that I had learned from 
southern gentlemen the difficulties and the dan- 
gers of having free blacks intermingling with 
slaves; and, on that account, and with a view to 
the safety of the white population of the iidjoining 
States, i would not even advocate the prohibition 
of Slavery in the Alabama territory; because, 
surrounded as it wius by slaveholding States, and 
with only imaginary lines of division, the inter- 
course between slaves and free blacks could not 
be prevented, and a servile war might be the re- 
sult. Wliile we deprecate and mourn over the 
evil of Slavery, humanity and good morals reqiuro 
us to wish its abolition, under circumstances con- 
sistent with the safety of the white popuhitiou. 
VVillingly, therefore, will I submit to an evil 
which we cannot safely remedy. I a<lmilted all 
that had been said of the danger of having free 
blacks visible to slaves, and, therefore, tlid not 
hesitate to pledge myself that I would neither ad- 
vise nor attempt coercive manumission, liut, sir, 
all these reasons cea.se when we cross the banks 
of the Mississippi, into a territory separated by a 
natural boundary — a newly acquired territory, 
never contemplated in the formation of our gov- 
ernment, not included within the compromise or 
mutual pledge in the adoption of our Constitu- 
tion—a new territory acquired by our common 
fund, and ought justly to be subject to our com- 
mon legislation. 

Sir, when 1 submitted the amendment now 
under consideration, accompanied with these 
explanations, and with these avowals of my in- 
tentions and of my motives— I did expect that 
gentlemen who might differ from me in opinion 
would appreciate the liberality of my views, and 
would meet me with moderation, as upon a fair 
subject for general legislation. I did expect, at 
least, that the frank declaration of my views 
would protect me from harsh expressions, and 
from the unfriendly imputations wnicli have been 
cast out on this occasion. liui, sir, such hji3 
been the character and the violence of this de- 
bate, and expressions of so much intemperance, 
and of an aspect so threatening have been used, 
that continued silence on my part would ill 1)0- 
come me, who had submitted to this house tho 
original proposition. While this subject was 
under debate before the Committee ot llie whole, 
I did not take the floor, and 1 avail myself of 
this occasion to acknowledge my obligalious to 



12 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



mj' friends (Mr. Taylor and Jlr. Mills) for tho 
manner in which (hey supported my amendment, 
at a time when I was unable to partake in the 
debate. I had only on that day returned from a 
journey, ioug in its extent and painful in its oc- 
ca-iion ; and from an affection of my breast I 
eiiiild not then speak. I cannot yet hope to do 
ju>tiec to (he subject; but I do hope to say 
en(mi,'h to assure my friends that I have not left 
them in the controversy, and to convince the 
opponents of the measure, that their violence has 
not driven me from the debate. 

8ir, the hon. gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
Scott, who has just resumed his seat, has told us of 
the ides of March, and has cautioned us to " be- 
ware of the fate o( C;esar and of Rome." Another 
gentleman (Mr. Cobb) from Georgia, in addition 
to other expressions of great warmth, has said, 
that if we persist, tho Union will be dissolved ; and 
with a look tixed on me, has told us, '' we have 
kindled a fire which all the waters of the ocean 
cannot put out, which seas of blood can only ex- 
tinguish." 

Language of this sort has no effect on me ; my 
purpose is fixed, it is interwoven with my ex- 
istence ; its durability is limited with my life ; it 
is a great and glorious cause, setting bounds to a 
slavery the most cruel and debusing the world 
has ever witnessed ; it is the freedom of man ; it 
is the cause of unredeemed and uuregenerated 
human beings. 

If a dissolution of the Union must take place, 
let it be so ! If civil war, which gentlemen so 
much threaten, must come, I can only say, let it 
come ! My hold on life is probably as frail as 
that of any man who now hears me ; but while 
that hold lasts, it shall be devoted to the service 
of my country — to the freedom of man. If blood 
is necessary to extinguish any fire which I have 
assisted to kindle, I can assure gentlemen, while 
I regret the necessity, I shall not forbear to con- 
tribute my mite. Sir, the violence to which gen- 
tlemen have resorted on this subject will not 
inove my purpose, nor drive me from my place. 
I have the fortune and the honor to stand here as 
the representative of freemen, who possess in- 
telligence to know their rights ; who have the 
spirit to maintain them. Whatever might be my 
own private sentiments on this subject, standing 
here as the representative of others, no choice is 
left me. I know the will of my constituents, and, 
regardless of consequences, 1 will avow it — as 
their representative, I will proclaim their hatred 
to Slavery in every shape — as their representative 
here will I hold my stand, till this tloor, with the 
Con.^titutiou of my country which supports it, 
shall sink beneath me — if I am doomed to fall, I 
shall, at least, have the painful consolation to be- 
lieve that I fall, as a fragment, in the ruins of my 
country. 

Sir, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Colston) 
has accused my honorable friend from New 
Hampshire (Mr. Livermore) of "speaking to the 
galleries," and by his " language endeavoring to 
excite a servile war;" and has ended by saying, 
" he is no better than Arbuthnot and Ainbrister, 
and deserves no better fate." When I hear such 
language uttered upon this floor, and within this 
house, I am constrained to consider it as hasty 
and unintended language, resulting from the 
vehemence of debate, and not really intending the 
personal indecorum the expressions would seem 
to indicate. [Mr. Colston asked to explain, and 
Faid ho had not distinctly understood Mr. T. 
Mr. Livermore called on Mr. C. to state the ex- 
pressions he had used. Mr. C. then said he had 
no explanation to give.] Mr. T. said ho had none 
to ask— he continued to say, he would not be- 
lieve any gentlenuin on this floor would commit 
80 great an indecorum against any member, or 
against tho dignity of this house, as to use such 



expressions, really intending the meaning which 
the words seem to import, and which had been 
uttered against the gentleman from New Hamp- 
shire. [Mr. Nelson, of Virginia, in the Chair, 
called to order, and said no personal remarks 
would be allowed.] Mr. T. said he rejoiced the 
Chair was at length aroused to a sense of its 
duties. The debate had, for several days, pro- " 
grossed with uncqualed violence, and all was in 
order ; but now, when at length this violence on 
one side is to be resisted, the Chair discovered it 
is out of order. I rejoice, said Mr. T., at the dis- 
covery, I approve of the admonition, while I am 
proud to say it has no relevancy to me. It is 
my boast that I have never uttered an unfriendly 
personal remark on this floor; but I wish it dis- 
tinctly understood, that the immutable laws of 
self defense will justify going to great lengths, 
and that, in the "future process of this debate, 
the rights of defense would be regarded. 

Sir, has it already come to this: that in the 
Congress of the United States— that, in the legis- 
lative councils of republican America, the subject 
of Slavery has become a subject of so much 
feeling — of such delicacy — of such danger, that it 
cannot safely be discussed ? Arc members who 
venture to express their sentiments on this sub- 
ject, to be accused of talking to the galleries, 
with intention to excite a servile war ; and of 
meriting the fate of Arbuthnot and Ambrister? 
Are we to be told of the dissolution of the Union, 
of civil war and of seas of blood ? And yet, 
with such awful threatenings before us, do gen- 
tlemen, in the same breath, insist upon the en- 
couragement of this evil ; upon the extension of 
this monstrous scourge of the human race ? An 
evil so fraught with such dire calamities to us 
as individuals, and to our nation, and threaten- 
ing, in its progress, to overwhelm tho civil and 
religious institutions of the country, with the 
liberties of the nation, ought at once to be met, 
and to be controlled. If its power, its influence, 
and its impending dangers, have already arrived 
at such a point, tliat it is not safe to discuss it on 
this floor, and it cannot now pass under considera- 
tion as a proper subject for general legislation, 
what will be the result when it is spread through 
your widely-extended domain ? Its present 
threatening aspect, and the violence of its sup- 
porters, so far from inducing me to yield to its 
l)rogress, prompt me to resist its march. Now is 
the time. It must now be met, and the extension 
of the evil must now be prevented, or the occa- 
sion is irrecoverably lost, and the evil can never 
bo controlled. 

Sir, extend your view across the Mississippi, 
over your newly-acquired territory — a territory 
so far surpassing, in extent, the limits of your 
present country, that that country which gave 
birth to your nation — which achieved your Revo- 
lution — consolidated your Union — formed your 
Constitution, and has subsequently acquired so 
much glory, hangs but as an appendage to the 
extended empire over which your republican 
government is now called to bear sway. Look 
down the long vista of futurity ; see your 
empire, in extent uncqualed, in advantageous 
situation without a parallel, and occupying all the 
valuable part of one continent. Behold this ex- 
tended empire, inhabited by the hardy sons of 
American freemen, knowing their rights, and in- 
heriting the will to protect them — owners of tho 
soil on which they live, and interested in the in- 
stitutions which they labor to defend ; with two 
oceans laving your shores, and tributary to your 
purposes, bearing on their bosoms the commerce 
of our people ; compared to yours, the govern- 
ments of Europe dwindle into insignificance, and 
the whole world is without a parallel. But, sir, 
reverse this scene ; people this fair domain with 
the slaves of your planters ; extend tSlavery, this 



THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



18 



bnno of man, (liin nboiniiintiDii of hfiiveii, over 
yourcxteiuled einj/iR', iiiiil ymi i.rcpiiro itc diswUn- 
tioii ; you turn itn iiciuinulukMl KtnMi^'th into 

Eositivo wcnkni^Hs; you clicriisli ii fiinkcr in your 
roast ; you i)ut poison in your l)os(un ; you piaco 
a vulture prcyini; on your licart— nay, you wlut 
tho ilaj:t;fr aii'.l place it in the hands of a portion 
of youHJopulation, stimulated to use it, by every 
tie, human and divine. The envious contrast 
between your happiness and tlieir misery, be- 
tween your lilierly and their slavery, must con- 
stantly prompt them to accomplish your destruc- 
tion. 'Your onomios will Icaru tho source and 
tlio cause of your weaknes.s. As ot'ten as external 
(lan},'ers shall threaten, or inlertial commotions 
awnityou, you will then reali/.c, that by your own 
procurement, you liavo jdaced amidst your 
families, and in tho bosom of your country, a 
population producing; at once tlu^ j^Tcatrst cause 
of individual dnn;;er, and of national weakness. 
With this defect, your p)vornment must crumble 
to pieces, aud your people become tho scoff of 
tho world. 
C .Sir, wo have been told, with apparent confi- 
fA dence, that wo have no ris^ht to amie.x conditions 
to a State, on its admission into the Union ; and 
it has been uriccd that the proposed amendment, 
prohibitinur the further introduction of Slavery, is 
Vjinconslitutional. This position, asserted with 
80 much conlidence, rcmams nnsupported by any 
argument, or by any authority derived from tho 
Constitution itself. The Constitution stroni,dy in- 
dicates an opposite conclusion, and seems to con- 
temi)lato a difference between the old and tho 
new Slates. The i)ractice of tho government 
"las sanctioned this difTerence in many respects. 

The third section of the fourth article of the 
Constitution says, " new Stafex may he odmitfed 
by the Comjrexs into this Union," and it is silent 
as to the terms and conditions upon which tho 
new States may bo so admitted. The fair infer- 

''encefrom tliis'is, tliat the Congress whicli might 
admit, should prescribe tho time and the terms 
of such admission. The tenth section of the first 
article of tho Constitution says, " tlu; migration 
or importation of such persons as any of the 
States NOW KXISTING shall think proper to ad- 
mit, shall not he prohibited by the Congress prior 
to the year 1808." The words " now existing" 
clearly show the distinction for which wo con- 
tend. The word slave is nowhere mentioned in 
tho Constitution; but this section has always 
been considered as applicable to them, and un- 
questionably reserved tho right to prevent their 
imjiortation into any iicw State before the year 
1S08. 

Congress, therefore, have power over the 

subject, probably as a matter of legislation, but 

0^ more ccrtaiidy as a right, to prescribe tho time 

and the comlition upon which any new State 

may bo admitted into the family of the Union. 

■Sir, the bill now before us proves tho correctness 
of my argument. It is filled with conditions and 
limitations. Tho territory is required to take a 
census, and is to bo admitted only on condition 
that it have 40,000 inhabitants. 1 have already 
submitted amondnients preventing tho State from 
taxing the lands ot the llnited States, and declar- 
ing that all navigable waters shall remain open 
to the other States, and bo exempt from any tolls 
or duties. And my friend (i\Ir. Taylor) has also 
submitted ainendmonts prohibiting tho State 
from taxing soldiers' lands for tho period of five 
years. AikI to ail these amenilineiita wo have 
lieard no otijeetioii — they have jjassod unani- 
mously. Hut now, when an amendment, pro- 
hibiting tho further introduction of Slavery is 
proposed, tho whole house is put iu agitation, 
and wo are confidently told it is unconstitutional 
to annex conditions to tho adniissi(ui of a new 
State into tho Uiiiou. Tho result of all this is, 



that nil nmendmonts and conditions arc proper, 
wliich suit a certain classof gentlemen, but wtiat- 
ever ani« ndnieut is projiowed, which does not 
comport with their iiilei(!htM or their views, i.s un- 
ciinstitutional, and a llagrant violation of this 
sacred charier of our rights. In ordi.-r to be con- 
sistent, genllenu-n must go back and strike out 
tho various amenclmentH to which they liavo 
already agreed. The Constitution applies equally 
to all, or to none. 

Sir, we have been told thnt this is a new prin- 
ciple for which we contend, never befiu'o ado|>tod. 
or thought of So far from this being correct, it 
is due to the memory of our ancestors to say, it 
is an old principhi, adooteil by them, as tho 
jiolicy of onr country. Whenever the United 
States have had the right and tho power, they 
have heretofore jircvented tho extension of 
Slavery. The States of Kentucky (iiid Tennossco 
wei'e taken off from other States, and were ad- 
niitl<(l into the Union without condition, because 
their lands were never owned by tin; United 
Stales. The Territory northwest of the Ohio is all 
tin; land which ever belonged to them. Shortly 
after tho cession of those lands to the Union, 
Congress passed, in 1787, a compact, whii-h was 
declared to be unalterable, the sixth article of 
which provides that " th<:re shall be wither 
Slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said 
Territory, otherwise than in the punishment for 
crimes, whereof tlie parties shall have been duly 
convicted." In pursuance of this compact, all 
the States formed from that Territory have been 
a<lniitfed into the Union upon various conditions, 
and, amongst which, tho sixth article of this 
compact is included as one. 

Let gentlemen also advert to the law for tho 
admission of the State of Louisiana into tho 
■4^Jnion : they will find it filled with conditions. It 
was required not only to form a Constitution upon 
the i)rinciple8 of a republican government, but 
it was required to contain tho •' fundamental prin- 
cipka of civil and religious liberty. ' It was oven 
reiiuired as a condition of its admission, to keep 
its records, and its judicial and its legislative 
procedings in the English language ; and also to 
secure the trial by jury, and to surrender all 
claim to unappropriated lands in the Territory, 
with the prohibition to tax any of tho United 
States' lands. 

After this long practice and constant usage to 
annex conditions to the admission of a State into 
tho Uni(m. will gentlemen yet tell us it is uncon- 
stitutional, and talk of our principles being novel 
and extraordinary ? It has been said, that, if this 
amendment prevails, we shall have an union of 
States possessing unequal rights. And we havo 
been asked, whether wo wished to see such a 
" chequered union ?" Sir, wc have such a union 
already. If tho prohibition of Slavery is the de- 
nial ot a right, and constitutes a chequered union, 
gladly would I behold such rights denied, and 
such a chequer spread over every State in tho 
Union. It is now spread over the States north- 
west of tho Ohio, and forms tho glory and tho 
strength of those States. I hope it will be ex- 
tended from tho Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean.' 

Sir, we have been told that tho proposed 
amendment cannot be received, because it iii 
contrary to the treaty and cession of Louisiana, 
" Article ;i Tho inhabitants of tho ceded terri- 
tory shall bo incorporated in tho Union of the 
United States, and admitted as soon as possible, 
ai-iording to the principles of the Federal Con- 
stitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights ad- 
vantages, and immunities of citizens of tho 
United States, and in tho mean time they shall 
bo maintained and protected in the free enjoy- 
ment of their liberty, their property, and the re- 
ligion which they profess.'' I find nothing, said 
Mr. T., iu this article of tho treaty, iucompatiblo 



u 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



with the proposed amendment. The rights, ad- 
vantages, and immunities of citizens of the 
United States are guaranteed to the inhabitants 
of Louisiana. If one of them should choose to 
remove into Virginia, he could take his slaves 
with him: but if he removes to Indiana, or any 
of the States northwest of the Ohio, he cannot 
take his slaves with him. If the proposed 
amendment prevail, the inhabitants of Lou- 
isiana, or the citizens of the United States, can 
neither of them take slaves into the State of 
Missouri. All, tlierefore, may enjoy equal privi- 
leges. It is a disability, or what I call a blessing, 
annexed to the particular district of country, 
and in no manner attached to the individual. 
But, while I have no doubt that the treaty con- 
tains no solid objection against the proposed 
amendment, if it did, it would not alter my de- 
termination on the subject. The Senate, or the 
ti'caty-making power of our government, have 
neither the right, nor the power to stipulate by a 
treaty, the terms upon which a people shall be 
admitted into the Union. This House have a 
right to be heard on the subject. The admission 
of a State into the Union is a Legislative act, 
which requires the concurrence of all the depart- 
ments of Legislative power. It is an important 
prerogative of this House, which I hope will 
never be surrendered. 

The zeal and the ardor of gentlemen, in the 
course of this debate, have induced them to an- 
nounce to this house, that, if we persist and force 
the state of Missouri to accede to the proposed 
amendment, as the condition of her admission 
into the Union, she will not regard it, and, as 
Boon as admitted, will alter her constitution, and 
introduce Slavery into her territory. Sir, I am 
not prepared, nor is it necessary to determine, 
what would be the consequence of such a viola- 
tion of faith — of such a departure from the funda- 
mental condition of her admission into the 
Union. I would not cast upon a people so foul 
an imputation, as to believe they would be guilty 
of such fraudulent duplicity. The States north- 
west of the Ohio have all regarded the faith and 
the conditions of their admission : and there is no 
reason to believe the people of Missouri will not 
also regard theirs. But, sir, whenever a State 
admitted into the Union shall disregard and set 
at naught the fundamental conditions of its ad- 
mission, and shall, in violation of all faith, un- 
dertake to levy a tax upon lands of the United 
States, or a toll upon their navigable waters, or 
introduce Slavery, where Congress have prohi- 
bited it, then it will be in time to determine the 
consequence. But, if the threatened consequence 
were known to be the certain result, yet would I 
insist iipon the proposed amendment. The de- 
claration of this house, the declared will of the 
nation to prohibit Slavery, would produce its 
moral efi'ect, and stand as one of the brightest 
ornaments of our country. 

Sir, it has been urged with great plausibility, 
that we should spread the slaves now in our 
country, and thus spread the evil, rather than 
confine it to its present districts. It has been 
said, we should thereby diminish the dangers 
from them, while we increase the means of their 
living, and augment their comforts. But, you 
may rest assured, that this reasoning is fallacious, 
and that, while Slavery is admitted, the market 
will be supplied. Our coast, and its contiguity 
to the West Indies and the Spanish possessions, 
render easy the introduction of slaves into our 
country. Our laws are already highly penal 
against their introduction, and yet it is a well- 
known fact, that about fourteen thousand slaves 
have been brought into our country this last 
year. 

Since we have been engaged in this debate, we 
bavo witnessed an olucidution of this argument, 



of bettering the conditions of slaves, by spread- 
ing them over the country. A slave-driver, a 
trafBcker in human flesh, as if sent by Provi- 
dence, has passed the door of your capilol, on his 
way to the West, driving before him about fif- 
teen of these wretched victims of his power col- 
lected in the couise of his trafSo, and by their 
removal, torn from every relation and from every 
tie which the human heart can hold dear. The 
males, who might raise the arm of vengeance, 
and retaliate for their wrongs, were hand-cufled 
and chained to each other, while the females and 
children were marched in their rear, under the 
guidance of the driver's whip ! Yes, sir, such 
has been the scene witnessed from the windows 
of Congress Hall, and viewed by members who 
compose the legislative councils of republican 
America ! 

In the course of the debate on this subject, we 
have been told that, from the long habit of the 
southern and western people, the possession of 
slaves has become necessary to them, and an es- 
sential requisite in their living. It has been 
urged, from the nature of the chmate and soil of 
the southern countries, that the lands cannot be 
occupied or cultivated without slavt s. It has 
been said that the slaves prosper in those places, 
and that they are much better off there than in 
their own native country. We have ever been 
told that if we succeed and prevent Slavery across 
the Mississippi, we shall greatly lessen the value 
of property there, and shall retard, for a long 
series of years, the settlement of that country. 

Sir, said Mr. T., if the western country camiot 
be settled without slaves, gladly would 1 prevent 
its settlement till time shall be no more. If this 
class of arguments is to prevail, it sets all morals 
at defiance, and we are called to legislate on this 
subject as a matter of mere personal interest. If 
this is to be the case, repeal all your laws prohi- 
biting the slave-trade ; throw open this trafhc to 
the commercial States of the East ; and if it bet- 
ter the condition of these wretched beings, invite 
the dark population of benighted Africa to be 
translated to the shores of republican America. 
But I will not cast upon this or upon that gentle- 
man an imputation so ungracious as the conclu- 
sion to which their arguments would necessarily 
tend. I do not believe any gentleman on this 
floor would here advocate the slave-trade ; or 
maintain in the absti'act the principles of Slave- 
ry. I will not outrage the decorum, nor insult 
the dignity of this house, by attempting to ai-gue 
in this place, as an abstract proposition, the 
moral right of Slavery. How gladly would the 
" legitimates of Europe chuckle," to find an 
American Congress in debate on such a ques- 
tion ! 

As an evil brought upon us without our own 
fault, before the formation of our government, 
and as one of the sins of that nation from wliich 
we have revolted, we must of necessity legislate 
upon this subject. It is our business so to legis- 
late as never to encourage, but always to con- 
trol, this evil ; and, while we strive to eradicate 
it, we ought to fix its limits, and render it subor- 
dinate to the safety of the white population, and 
the good order of civil society. 

Sir, on this subject the eyes of Europe are 
turned upon you. You boast of the freedom of 
your constitution and your laws, you have pro- 
claimed, in the Declaration of Indepeudence, 
" That all men are created equal ; tliuL tkci/ are 
endowed by their Creator with certain nnalicna- 
ble rights — that amongst these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness ;" and yet yon have 
slaves in your country. The enemies of your 
government, find the legitimates of Europe, point 
to your iuconsistencies, and blazon your supposed 
defects. If you allow Slavery to pass into terri- 
tories where you have the lawful power to ex- 



THE FIRST MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



IS 



elude it, you will justly tnko upon youifclf nil 
thechnrges of iiiconsiHtoncy ; but confiuo itto tlio 
ori};inttl Kliivt-lioldinj,' Stiitca, wlierc you found it j 
at the foniiiitiou of your (foyonuneut, and you i 
6fiiti(l (ic(|uitti!d of niriuiputiitiou. 

This 18 11 8ul))cct upon which I have ^roit f'^fl- 
ing for tho h.Inor of my country. In n former 
debate upon the Illinois conHliluiion, I menlion- 
ed tlmt our ouiniies hiul driiwn ii picture of our 
country, us liolilinj; in one li'ind the Declanition 
of Indcpeiidenee, and witli the other brandisliin;; 
a whiji over our alVrif^lited shives. I then made 
it my boast that wo could east back upon Kn;;- 
land the acousalion— tliat she had ciuumitted the 
ori!;iiuil sin of bringfinf; slaves into our country. 
I have since received, throntjh the post (illice, a 
letter post marked in South Carolina, and aifjned 
"yl Hdlivc of En«;l(tnil," dv^'mw^ that, when I 
had occasion to rci)eat my boast against England, 
I would also state that she had atoned for lier 
original sin. by establishing in her slave-colonies 
a system of humane laws, meliorating their con- 
dition, and providing for their safety, while 
America had counnilted the secondary sin of dis- 
regarding their condition, and had even provided 
laws, by which it was not murder to kill a slave. 
Sir, I felt the severity of the reproof; I felt for 
my country. I have inquired on the subject, 
and I tind such were formerly the laws iu some 
of the slavoholding States ; and that even now, 
in the State of South Carolina, by law, the pen- 
alty of death is provided for stealing a slave, 
■wliih< the murder of a slave is punished with a 
trivial fine. Such is the contrast and tho relative 
value which is placed, in the opinion of a slave- 
holding State, between tho property of the mas- 
ter and the life of a slave. 

Sir, gentlemen have undertaken to criminate, 
and to draw odious contrasts between different 
sections of our country — I shall not combat such 
arguments ; I have made no pretense to exclusive 
morality on this subject, cither for myself or my 
constituents; nor have I cast any imi)utations 
on others. On the contrary, I hold that msm- 
kind under like circumstances are alike, the 
world over. The vicious and unprincipled are 
contined to no district of country and it is for 
this portion of the community wo are bound to 
legislate. When honorable gentlemen inform us 
we overrate tho cruelty and the dangers of 
Slavery, and tell us that their slaves arc happy, 
and contented, and would even contribute to 
their safety, ihey tell us but very little ; they do 
not tell us, that, while their slaves are happy, 
the slaves of some depraved and cruel wretch in 
their neighborhood may not be stimulated to re- 
venge, and thus involve the country in ruin. If 
we had to legislate only for such gentlemen as 
are now embraced within my view, a law against 
robbing tho mail would be a disgrace upon the 
nation ; and, as useless, I would tear it from the 

Eages of your statute book ; yet sad experience 
as taught us the necessity of such laws — and 
honor, justice, and policy teach us the wisdom 
of legislating to limit the extension of Slavery. 

In the zeal to draw sectional contrasts, we have 
bceu told by one gentleman, that gentlemen from 
one district of country talk of their morality, 
while those of another practice it. And the su- 
perior liberality has been asserted of Southern 
gentlemen over those of tho North, iu all contribu- 
tions to moral institutions, for bible and mission- 
arj' societies. Sir, I understand too well the pur 
suit of my purpose, to be decoyed and drawn off 
info the discu.ssion of a collateral subject. I 
have no inclination to controvert these assertions 
of comparative liberality. Although I have no 
idea they are founded in fact, yet, because it bet- 
ter suits the object of my present argument, I 
will, on this occasion, admit them to tlie fullest 
eitent. Aud what is the result? Southern geu- 



tlomcn, by their supcror liberality in contribu- 
tions to moral institutions, justly stand in the 
first rank, and hold tho first place in the brightest 
page in the history of our country. IJut, turn 
over this page. an<l what do you behold ? You 
behold them eontributiiig to "teach the doctrines 
of ("hrislianity in every (lu)n'ter of the globe. 
You behold tliciM legislating to secure tlie ig- 
norance and stui)i<lily of their own slave.') ! You 
beh(dd them, prescribing, by law, penalties 
against the man that dares teacli a ni'gro to rend. 
Such is the statute law of the State of Virginia. 
[Mr. Hassett and Mr. Tyler said that tljere was 
no such law in Virginia. 1 

No, said Mr. T., I have mis spoken myself; I 
ought to have said, such is tho statute law of Iho 
State of (leorgia. Yes, while wo hear of a 
liberality which civilizes tho savages of all 
countries, and carries tho gospel alike to tho 
Hottentot and the Hindoo, it has been reserved 
for tho republican State of Georgia, not content 
with the care of its overseers, to legislate to bo- 
eure tho oppression and tho ignorance of their 
slaves. The man who there teaches a negro to 
read, is liabli^ to a criininal prosecution. Tho 
dark, benighted beings of all creation profit by 
our liberality — save those of our own plantations. 
Where is tho missionary who possesses suflicicnt 
hardihood to venture a residence to teach the 
slaves of a plantation ? Here is the stain \ Hero 
is the stigma ! which fastens upon tho character 
of our country ; and which, iu tho appropriate 
language of tho gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. 
Cobb.) all the icaters of the ocean cannot wash, 
out ; ivhich seas of blood can only take away. 

Sir, there is yet another, and an important 
point of view, in which this subject ought to be 
considered. Wo have been told by those who 
advocate the extension of Slavery into the Mis- 
souri, that any attempt to control this subject by 
legislation, is a violation id' that faith and mu- 
tual confidence upon which our Union was 
formed, and our Constitution adopted. This ar- / 
gument might be considered plausible, if the / 
restriction was attempted to be enforced against 
any of the slavoholding States, which had been a 
party in the adoption of the Constitution. But 
it can have no reference or application to a new 
district of country recently acquired, and never 
contemplated in the formation of government, 
and not embraced in the mutual concessions and 
declared faith upon which the Constitution waa 
adopted. The Constitution provides, that the 
liepresentativea of tho several States to this 
House shall be according to their number, in- 
eluding threcfifths of the slaves in the respective 
Slates. This is an impoi'tant benefit yielded to 
the slavoholding States, as one of the mutual 
sacrifices for tho Union. On this subject, I con- 
sider the faith of the Union pledged, and I never 
would attempt coercive manumission iu a slave- 
holding State. 

But none of the causes which induced the 
sacrifice of this principle, and which now produce 
such an unequal representation on this floor, of 
the free population of the country, exist as be- 
tween us and the iiewlyacquirod Territory 
across tho Mississippi. That portion of country 
has no claims to such an unequal rejireseutation, 
unjust in its results upon tho other States. Are 
the numerous slaves iu extensive countries, which 
we may acquire by purchase, and admit as States 
into the Union, at once to bo represented on this 
floor, under a clause of tho Constitution, granted 
ixn a compromiso and a benefit to the southern 
States which had borne part in tho lievoUition ? 
Such an extension of that clause in the Constitu- 
tion would bo unjust in its operations, unequal in 
its results, and a violation of its original intention. 
Abstract from the moral effects of Slavery, ita 
political consequence in the represeutation under 



16 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



this clause of the Constitution, demonstrate the 
importance of the proposed amendment. 

Sir, I shall bow in silence to the will of the 
majority, on whichever side it shall be expressed : 
yet I confidently hope that majority will be 
found on the side of an amendment, so replete 
with moral consequences, so prcguaut with im- 
portant political results. 

Mr. Scott, of Missouri, said, he trusted 
that his conduct, durin|2f the whole of the time 
in which he had the honor of a scat in the House, 
had convinced gentlemen of his disposition not 
to obtrude his sentiments on any other subjects 
than those on which the intercut of his consti- 
tuents, and of tiie Territory he represented, were 
immediately concerned. I3ut when a question 
such as the amendmeufs proposed by the gentle- 
men from Now York (Messrs. Tailmadge and 
Taylor), was presented for consideration, in- 
volving constitutional principles to a vast 
amount, pregnant with the future fate of the 
Territory, portending destruction to the liberties 
of that people, directly bearing on their rights of 
property, their state rights, their all, he should 
consider it as a dereliction of his duty, as retreat- 
ing from his post, nay, double criminality, did 
he not raise his voice against their adoption. 
After the many able and luminous views that 
had been taken of this subject, by the speaker of 
the House, and other honorable gentlemen, he 
had not the vanity to suppose that any additional 
views which he could offer or any new dress in 
■which he could clothe those already advanced, 
would have the happy tendency of inducing any 
gentleman to change his vote. But, if he stood 
single on the question, and there was no man to 
help him, yet, while the laws of the laud and the 
rules of the House guaranteed to him the privi- 
lege of speech, he would redeem his conscience 
from the imputation of having silently witnessed 
a violation of the Constitution of his country, 
and an infringement on the liberties of the 
people who had intrusted to his feeble abilities 
the advocation of their rights. He desired, at 
this early stage of his remarks, in the name of 
the citizens of Missouri Territory, whose rights 
on other subjects had been too long neglected 
and shamefully disregarded, to enter his solemn 
protest against the introduction, under the in- 
sidious form of amendment, of any principle in 
this bill, the obvious tendency ot which would 
be to sow the seeds of discord in, and perhaps 

/f eventually endanger the Union. 

I Mr. S. entertained the opinion, that, under the 
Constitution, Congress had not the power to im- 
pose this, or any other restriction, or to require 
of the people of Missouri their assent to this con- 
dition, as a pre requisite to their admission into 
the Union. Ho contended this from the language 
of the Constitution itself, from the practice in the 
admission of new States under that instrument, 
and from the express terms of the treaty of ces- 
sion. The short view he intended to take of 
th6se points would, ho trusted, be satisfactory to 
all those who wore not so anxious to usurp power 
as to sacrifice to its attainment the principles of 
our government, or who were not desirous of 
prostrating the rights and independence of a 
State to chimerical views of policy or expediency. 
The authority to admit new States into the Union 
was granted in the third section of the fourth ar- 
ticle of tlio Constitution, which declared that 
I' new States my be admitted by the Congress 
into the Union." ',Pb©~aulj power given to the 
Congress by this section appoareJ to_ him to 
be, that of passing a law for the admission of 
the new State, leaving it in possession of all the 
rights, privileges, and immunities, enjoyed by 
the other States ; the most valuable' and promi- 
nent of which was that of forming and modifying 



their own State Constitution, and over which 
Congress had no superintending control, other 
than that expressly given in the fourth section of 
the same article, which read, " the United States 
shall guarantee to every State in this Union a 
republican form of government." This end ac- 
complished, the guardianship of the United 
States over the Constitutions of the several States 
was fulfilled ; and all restrictions, limitations and 
conditions beyond this, was so much power un- 
warrantably assumed. In illustration of this 
position, he would read an extract from one of 
the essays written by the late President Madison, 
contemporaneously with the Constitution of the 
United States, and from a very celebrated work : 
"In a confederacy founded on republican prin- 
ciples, and composed of republican members, 
the superintending government ought clearly to 
possess authority to defend the system against 
aristocratic or monarchical innovations. The 
more intimate the nature of such an Union may 
be, the greater interest have the members in the 
political institutions of each other, and the greater 
right to insist that the foims of government un- 
der which the compact was entered into, should 
be substantially maintained. But this authority 
extends no further than to a guarantee of a re- 
publican form of government, which supposes a 
pre-existing government of the form which is to 
be guaranteed. As long, therefore, as the ex- 
isting republican forms are continued by the 
States, they are guaranteed by the Federal Con- 
stitution. Whenever the States may choose to 
substitute other republican forms, they have a 
right to do so, and to claim the Federal guarantee 
for the latter. The only restriction imposed on 
them is, that they shall not exchange republican 
for anti-republican Constitutions; a restriction 
which, it is presumed, will hardly be considered 
as a grievance." 

Mr. S. thought that those two clauses, when 
supported by such high authority, had they been 
the only ones in the Constitution which related 
to the powers of the general government over 
the States, and particularly at their formation and 
adoption into the Union, could not but be deemed 
satisfactory to a reasonable extent ; but there 
were other provisions in the Constitution, to 
which he would refer, that beyond all doubt, to 
his mind, settled the question. One of those was 
the tenth article in tho amendments, which said 
that " the powers not delegated to the United 
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it 
to the States, are reserved to the States respec- 
tively or to the people." He believed that, by 
common law, and common usage, all grants giv- 
ing certain defined and specific privileges, or 
powers, were to be so construed as that no others 
should be intended to be given but such as were 
particularly enumerated in the instruments them- 
selves, or indispensably necessary to carry into 
effect those designated. In no part of the Consti-"? 
tution was the power proposed to be exercised, of i 
imposing conditions on anew State, given, either / 
in so many words, or by any justifiable or fair ( 
inference ; nor in any portion of the Constitution ' 
was tho right prohibited to the respective States, 
to regulate their own internal police, of admitting 
such citizens as they pleased, or of introducing 
any description of property, that they should con- 
sider as essential or necessary to their prosperity; 
and the framers of that instrument seem to have 
been zealous lest, by implication or by inference, 
powers might be assumed by the general govern- 
ment over the states and people, other than those 
expressly given : hence they reserve in so many 
terms to the states, and the people, all powers not 
delegated to the federal government. The ninth 
article of the amendments to the Constitution 
still furtlier illustrated the position he had taken ; 
it read, that " the emimoratiou in the Constitution 



THE FlUST MISSOURI STUUCJCiLE. 



17 



offorta'm ri;;litrt bIiiiII not ho construotl todonyor 
di«imrii';o nilici-x retained \>y llie jieoplo." Mr. 
S. beliuved il to hu a Jiint ri'ilo of interi>retiiti(in, 
that tlie eimineralinii of powers dele;,'iited to Con 
gross wcakenud their mithority in all cases not 
eiunnorated ; and that boyond llioso jiowerw enu- 
merated iliey had none, except tliey were essen- 
tially necessary to carry into efVecl tiiose that 
were j,'iven. Tho second se(^lioM of tlio fourth 
[ nrti<'le of the (Nmslitulion, wijicli declared that 
I " the cilizt-ns of each Si ale i^liall he ciititlc(i to all 
\ the priv.le^'cs and ininimiilies of citizens in the 
isuver.d Stales," was saiistactory, to his judf;ment, 
that it was intended tho citizens of each Stale, 
forniin;; a part u( one harmonious whole, should 
Lave, in all lUuiii:i,f</iiti/ pi iri/ii,'rx ; the necessary 
constcim-nces of which was, that every man, in 
his own Slate, should have the same ri;,dits, privi 
Jei,'cs, and powers, that any other cilizeii of the 
United Stales had in his own Slate ; otherwise dis- 
1 content and inunnurings would prevail nfrainst 
, the general government who hail dejjrived him 
of this equality. 

'. For example, if the citizens of Pennsylvania, 
/'or Virginia, enjoyed tho right, in their own Slate, 
', to decide the question whether they would have 
I Slavery or noi, the citizens of Missouri, to give 
; them (he same privileges, must have the same 
/ right to decide whether they would or would not 
/^tolerate Slavery in their State; if it were other- 
wise, then the citizens of Pennsylvania and 
Virginia would have more rights, privileges, 
and powers in their respective States, than 
tho citizens of Missouri would have in theirs. 
Mr. S. said he would make another quolatmn 
from I lie same work he had before been indebted 
to, which ho believed had considerable bearing 
on liiis question. "Tho powers delegated 
by the proposed constitution, to the federal gov- 
ernmcui, are few and delined ; those which are to 
remain in the State Governments, are numerous 
and indetiniie ; the former will be exercised prin- 
cipally on external objects, as war, jwace, nego- 
liaiion, and foreign commerce, with which last 
tho powers of ta.xation will, for the most part, be 
connected. The powers reserved to the several 
Stales Will extend to all the objects, which in the 
ordinary course of afi'airs concern the lives, liber- 
ties, and properties of the people, and the internal 
order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.'' 
Tiic apid.cabilily of this doctrine to the question 
under consideration was so obvious, that he 
woulil not detain the House to give examples, 
but leave it for gentlemen to make the applica- 
tion. He would, however, make one other refer- 
ence to the Constitution, before he proceeded to 
speak of the practice under it; in the second sec- 
tion of tliat instrument it was provide<l, that 
" rei)reseiitatives, and direct taxes, shall be ap- 

Corlioiied among the several States which may 
e included wiihin this Union, according to their 
respective numbers, which shall be determined 
by addmg to the whole number of free persons, 
including those bound to service for a term of 
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three- 
fifths of all other persons." This provision was 
not restricted to the States then formed, and about 
to adopt the Constitution ; but to all those States 
whicli in/;,'kl be included within this Union, 
clearly contemplating the admission of new States 
thereafler, and i)roviding. that to them, also, 
shmild tlii8 principle of representation and taxa- 
tion equally apply. Nor could he sub.scribo to 
the construction, that as this )iart of the Constitu- 
tion was matter of compromise, it was to be lim- 
ited ill its application to the original States only, 
and not to bo extended to all those States that 
might alter its adoption become members of the 
Federal Union ; and a practical exposition had 
been made by Congress of this ))art of the Consti- 
tution, in the admission of Kentucky, Louisiana, 



■ and MissisBippi Stntes, nil of whom were slavo- 
l holding Stales, and to oatdi of them this principle 
hail been e.xleiidod. 

Mr. S. believ<-d, that tho practice un<ler the 
Coiistitnlion had been dilVerenl from that now 
contended I'or by gentlemen ; he was unai)|>rised 
(d' any similar provision liaving ever been made, 
or atlemiited to be made, in ndation to any olhiT 
new Slate heretofore admilled. The argument 
drawn from the Slates I'canied out of the 'I'errilory 
northwest of the river Ohio, he diil not consider 
as analogous ; that restriction, if any, was im- 
posed in pursuance of a conipaci, and only, bo 
tar as Congress coulii do, carried into ellect the 
disposition of Virginia in reference to a pail oi 
her own original Territory, and was, in ev«-ry 
respect, more just, because that provision waH 
made and published to the worM al a time when 
bill ffW, il any, sellleiiieiits were formed wiihin 
that Iracl of coiinlry ; and the children of those 
jieople of cohu' belonging to the iiiliabilaiils then 
there have been, ami still were, held in bondage, 
and were not free at a given age, as was contem- 
plated by the anicndnunit under consiih'ration, 
nor did he doubt but that it was comiietent for 
any of those States admitted in pursuance of llie 
ordinance of '87, to call a convention, and so to 
alter their constitution as to idlow the introduc- 
tion of Slaves, if they thought proiier to do so. 
To those geiillemen who had in their argunnnt, 
in support of the amendments, adverte<l to the 
instance wiure Con^rress had, by the law author- 
izing the people of Louisiana to form a constitu- 
tion and Slate government, exercised the power 
of imposing the terms and conditions on which 
tiny slnmld be permitted to do so, he would re- 
commend a careful examination and (-omparisoii 
of those terms with the Coiislilution of the 
UniliMi States, when, he doubled not, they would 
be convinced that these restrictions were only 
such as were in express and positive language 
detined in the latter instrument, and would have 
been (.'(puilly binding on the peoi)le of ].iuuisiana 
had they not been enumerated in the law giving 
them authority to form a coustitulion for them- 
selves. 

Mr. S. said, he considered the contemplated 
conditions and restrictions, contained in the pro- 
posed amendments, to bo unconstitutional and 
unwarrantable, from the jirovisions of the treaty 
of cession, by tlie third article of which it was 
stipulated, that " the inhabitants of the ceded 
Territory shall be incorporated in llic Union of 
the United States, and aduiitled, as soon as jios- 
sible, according to the principles of the Federal 
Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, 
advantages, and immunities of citizens ol tlie 
United States, and, in the mean time, they shall 
be maintained aiul protected in the free enjoy 
iiieiit of ttieir liberty, property, and the religion 
which they jirofess." 

This treaty having been made by the compe- 
tent authority of government, ratified by the JSeii- 
ate, and emphatically sanctioned by Congress in 
the acts making appropriations to carry it into 
etl'ect, became a part of the supreme law of the 
land, and its bearings on the riglits of the people 
had received a practical exposition by tlie ad- 
missicni of the Stale of Louisiana, jiart of tlic 
same Territory, and acquired by the same treaty 
of cession, into the Union. It was in vain for 
gentlemeu to fell him that, by tlie terms of tho 
treaty of cession, the UniteU Slates were not 
bound to admit any part of tho ceded Territory 
into the Union as a State ; the evidence of the 
(d)ligation Congress considered they were under, 
to adopt Stales funned out of that Territory, is 
clearly deducibio Iroin the fact, that they had 
done so in tho instance of Louisiana. iJut, had 
no Stale been admitted, formed of a part of the 
Territory acquired by that treaty, the obligation 



18 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



of the government to do so would not be tlie less 
njipnreiit to him. " The inlinbitants of tlio ceded 
Territory sliiill be incorpor.-itcd in the Union of 
the United Stntes." Tlie people were not left to 
tlie wayward discretion of this, or any other gov- 
ernment, by saying that they viay he incorporaled 
ill the Union. The language was diflferent and 
imperative: '■' thiy ahnll be incorporaled." Islv. 
Scott understood by the term incorporated^ that 
they were to form a constituent part of this re- 
public; that th((y were to become joint partners 
in the character and councils of the country, and 
in the national losses and national gains ; as a 
Territory they were not an essential part of the 
government ; they were a mere province, subject 
to the acts and regulations of the general govern- 
ment in all cases whatsoever. As a Territory 
they had not all the ris;htsi, advantages and im- 
wnniiiex, of citizens of the United States. Mr. 
S. himself furnished an example, that, in their 
present condition, they had not all the rights of 
the other citizens of the Union. Had he a vote 
in this House ? and yet these people were, during 
tlie war, subject to certain taxes imposed by Con- 
gress. Had those people any voice to give in the 
imposition of taxes to which they were subject, 
or in the disposition of the funds of the nation, 
and jiarticularly those arising from the sales of 
the i)ublic lands to whii^h they already had, and 
still would largely contribute? Had they a 
voice to give in selecting the officers of this gov- 
ernment, or many of their own ? In short, in 
what had they equal rishts, advantages, and. im- 
miinities with the other citizens of the United 
States, but in the privilege to submit to a pro- 
crastination of then- right's, and in the advantage 
to subscribe to your laws, your rules, your taxes, 
and your powers, even without ahearing ? Those 
people were also " to be admitted into the Union 
as soon as possible." Mr. Scott would infer from 
this expression, that it was the understanding of 
the parties, that so soon as any portion of the 
Territory, of sufficient extent to form a State, 
should contain the number of inhabitants requir- 
ed by law to entitle them to a representative on 
the floor of this House, that they then had the 
right to make the call for admission, and this ad- 
mission, when made, was to be, not on conditions 
that gentlemen might deem expedient, not on 
conditions referable to future political views, not 
on conditions that the constitution the people 
should form should contain a clause that would 
particularly open the door for emigration from 
tlio North or from the South, not on condition that 
tlie future population of the State should come 
from a slaveholding or nou-slaveholding State, 
" biit according to the principles of the Federal 
Constitution," and none other. The people of 
Missouri were, by solemn treaty stipulation, when 
admitted, to enjoy all the rights, advantages, and 
immunities of citizens of the United States. Can 
any gentleman contend, that, laboring under the 
propii.sed restriction, the citizens of Missouri 
would have all the rights, advantages, and im- 
munities of other citizens of the Union ? Have 
not other new States, in their admission, and 
have not all the States in the Union, now, privi 
leges and rights beyond what was contemplated 
to he allowed to the citizens of Missouri ? Have 
not all other States in this government the right 
to alter, modify, amend, and change their state 
«onstituti(nis, having regard alone to a republican 
form.' And was there any existing law, or any 
clau.-^e in the Federal Constitution, that prohibit- 
ed a totid change from a slaveholding to a non- 
ftlaveholdiiig State, or from a non-slaveholdingto 
a slaveholding State / Mr. Scott thought, that if 
this provision was proper, or within the powers 
of Congress, they also had the correlative right 
to say, that the people of Missouri should not be 
admitted as a state, unless they provided, in the 



formation of their state constitution, that Slavery 
should be tolerated. Would not those (conscien- 
tious giMitlenien startle at this, and exclaun, irhat, 
impose on those people slaves, when they do not 
want them ? This would be said to be a direct 
attack on the State indejiendence. Was it in the 
powei- of Congress to annex the present condi- 
tion. Mr. Scott deemed it equally within the scope 
of their authority to say, what color the inhabit- 
ants of the jiropdsetl state should be, what de- 
scription of jiroperfv, other than slaves, those 
people should or should not possess, and the 
quantity of projjerty each man should retain, 
going upon the agrarian principle. He would 
even go further, and say, that Congress had an 
equal power to enact to what religion the people 
should subscribe ; that none other should be pro- 
fessed, and to pnjvide for the e.xcommuuication 
of all those who did not submit. 

The people of Missouri were, if admitted into 
the Union, to come in on an equal footing with 
the original States. That the jieople of the other 
States had the right to regulate their own internal 
police, to prescribe the i ules of their own conduct, 
and, in the formation of their constitutions, to 
say whether Slavery was or was not admissible, 
he believed was a point conceded by all. How, 
then, were the citizens of Missouri idaced on an 
equal footing with the other members of the 
Union ? Equal in some respects — a shameful- 
discrimination in others. A discrimination not 
warranted by the Constitution, nor justified by 
the treaty of cession, but founded on mistaken 
zeal, or erroneous policy. They were to be 
bound down by onerous conditions, limitations, 
and restrictions to which he knew they would 
not submit. That people were brave and inde- 
pendent in spirit, they were intelligent, and knew 
their own rights ; tliey were competent to self- 
government, and willing to risk their own happi- 
ness and future prosperity on the legitimate exer- 
cise of their own judgment and free will. Mr. 
Scott protested against such a guardianship as 
was contemplated now to bo assumed over his 
constituents. The spirit of freedom burned in 
the bosoms of the freemen of Missouri, and if 
admitted into the national family, they would be 
equal, or not come in al all. With what an anxi- 
ous eye have they looked to the east, since the 
commencement of this session of Congress, for 
the good tidings, that on them you had conferred 
the glorious privilege of self-government, and 
independence. What seeds of discord will you 
sow, when they read this suspicious, shameful, 
unconstitutional inhibition in their charter? 
Will they not compare it with the terms of the 
treaty of cession, that bill of their rights, emphatic- 
ally their magna cliarta ? And will not the re- 
sult of that comparison be a stigma on the faith 
of this government ? It had been admitted by 
some gentlemen, in debate, that, were the jieople 
of Missouri to form a constitution conforming to 
this provision, so soon as they were adopted into 
the Union it would be competent for them to call 
a convention and alter their constitution on this 
subject. Why, then, he would ask gentlemen, 
would they legislate, when they could produce 
no permanent, practical efiect .' Why expose 
the imbecility of the general government, to tie 
up the hands of the State, and induce the people 
to an act of chicanery, which he knew from prin- 
ciple they abhorred, to get clear of an odious re- 
striction on their rights? Mr. Scott had trusted 
that gentlemen who professed to be actuated by 
motives of humanity and jirinciple would not en- 
courage a course of dissimulation, or, by any 
vote of tlieirs, render it necessary for the citizens 
of Missouri to act equivocally to obtain their 
rights. He was unwilling to believe, that politi- 
cal views alono led gentlemen on this or any 
other occasion ; but, from the language of the 



THE FllWT MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



If 



member fioin New-York (Mr. Tnylor), lio wns 
coiniielledti) susi.eft tliat llicylnui ll.<'ir iiilliieii<e 
upon him. That Keiilkuiau hn.H lohl iin, that it 
ever he kit hin present resiileiieo, it woiiUl he lor 
lUiuoir* or lMi^M.Ul•i; ut nil cvfiilH, ho wishe.l to 
send out liiw bvothors niid liix foiiK. Mr. Scott 
be"Ketl ll>»t tiei.tleiiuin to relieve hnn lioiu the 
nwful ai.prihei.siou e.xeiled by the i,io:<i)eet ot 
this ae.o.sion of iiopulatioii. lie hoped lie 
llouso woiihl excuse him while he i^tatcd, that lie 
did not drsiro that >;ciitleiiiaii, hi.s sons, j.r his 
brothers, in thiit land of brave, noble, and imo 
ijtiidvnt freemon. The uieniher says that the 
iiililiiilo is loo far north to admit of Slavery tliiMo. 
Would the t,'entlenian east his eye on the map 
before him, lie would there see, that ft pnrt ol 
Kentuekv, Virf,'inia, and Maryland, were as tar 
north as ihe northern boundary of the proi.osed 
Slate of Missouri. Mr. Seotl would thank the 
gcnlleinan if he would eoiidesceiid to tell him 
what pieeiso line of latitude siiixd hi-s ennseienee, 
his huinanitv, or his pcdilieal views, on this sub 
jecf. Could that ineniber be serious, when he 
inude the parallel of latitude the measure -d his 
goodwill to those unfortunnte blaeks ? Or was 
betrviiig how far he eoul.l go in fallacious argu- 
ment' and absurdity, without creating one blush 
even on his own cheek, for inconsistency .' \\ hat, 
etarvo the negroes out, pen them tip m the 
ewuuips and morasses, conlino them to southern 
latitudes, to long, scorching days of labor and 
fatigue, uniil the race becomes extinct, that the 
fairyland of Missouri may be tciiauled by that 
gentleman, his brothers, and sons? He ck 
peeled from the majority of the House a more 
liberal jiolicy, and "better evidence that they 
really were actuated by humane motives. 
I Mr. S. said, he would trouble the House no 
I longer ; he thanked them for tlie attention and 
: indulgence already bestowed ; but he desired to 
j apprise gentlemen, before he sat down, that they 
/ were sowing the seeds of discord in this Union, 
; by uttemptiiig to admit states with unequal privi- 
' leges and unequal rights ; that they were signmg, 
sealing, and delivering their own deutliwarrant ; 
that the weapon they were so unjustly wieldinfr 
against the people of Missouri, was a two-edged 
sword. From the cumulative nature of power, 
the day might come when the general govern- 
ment might, in turn, undertake to dictate to them 
">oir questions of internal policy; Missouri, now 
weak and feeble, whose fate and murmurs would 
excite but little alarm or sensibility, might be- 
come an easy victim to motives of policy, party 
zeal, or mistaken ideas of power; but othertimes 
and other men would succeed ; a future Congress 
might come, who, under Ihe sauctilied forms of 
coustitutioiial power, would dictate to tliim odious 
conditions ; nay, inti.ct on their internal independ- 
ence a wound more deep and dreadful thiin even 
this to Missouri. The House had seen the force 
of precedent, in the mistaken iipplication of the 
conditions imposed on the people of Louisiana 
anterior to their admission into the Union. And, 
•whatever might be the ultimate determination of 
the House, Mr. S. considered this question big 
With the fate of Casar and of Rome. 

Mr. CouB, ol' (Jeorgiii, observed that he 
did not rise for the purpose of detaining the at- 
tention of the House for any length of time. He 
was too sensible of the importance of each mo- 
ment which yet remained of the session to ob- 
trude many remarks upon their patience. But, 
upon a measure involving the important conse- 
quences that this did, he felt it to be an imperious 
duty to e.\pres8 his sentiments, and to enter his 
most solemn protest against the principle propos- 
ed for adoption by the amendment. Were gen- 
tlemen aware of what they were about to do ? 
Did they foresee no evil consequences likely to 
result out of the measure if adopted ? Could 



they BuppoBo that (he southern Stnlenwnuld siib- 
mit with paticnee l<ia UK'aMiiethe effect of whi<'h 
would be to e,\elii(lc) them from all cnjoyiiieiit of 
the vast rcL'ioM puichaccd by the United .Slate* 
beyond Ihe Missifsipiii, ami which b( longed 
equally to them as to tiie liortheiii .States? Il<3 
vciitureil to assiiru Ihem that they would not. 
The jieoiile of tho flitrrlt'i/ilinff S/nle», hh ihviy 
are called, knoir their rights, t/nd will insist 
upon the <'iijoynient of them. Ho should not now 
allempl to go ovcM- gftiund already occupied by 
others, with iiuuli more ability, and atletppt to 
fIiow that, by the treaty with Kianee, the people 
of that Territory were secured in the enjoymoiit 
of the property which I hey lield in their slavcH. 
That th»* pro])osed amendment was an infractioa 
of this treaty, had been moct clearly shown. Nor 
would he litlemiit to rescue from slander the 
character of the peojde of the southern Stales. \a 
their condiul towards, and trealnien! of, their 
black iiojiulation. That had also been done 
with a dcgiee of force and ehxiiieiice, to which 
he could picteiid no claim, by Ihe genlknian 
from Virginia (Mr. Harbour), and the honoiablo 
speaker. He was, however, dearly of opinion 
that L'<)ti<,'icss/josse'<sril no /mircr uiidfr tlirCi'il- 
x//7h//(;h to adopt the nrineiple ])roi)oscd in the 
amendment, lie (failed upon the advocates of it 
to point out, ami lay 1 heir linger upon thai clause 
of the Constitution" of the United States, which 
gives to this body the ri^itl to legislate upon tho 
subject. Could they show in what clause or sec- 
tioi'i this right was expressly frivcn, or from which 
it could be inferred ? Uiih'ss this authority could 
be shown, Congress would be assumiiif!^ a power, 
if the ainendmeiit prevailed, not delegated to 
them, and most dangerous in its exercise. \\'liat 
is the end and tendency of the measure pioiMisod? 
It is to impose on the Statcof Missouri conditions 
not imposed upon any other State. It is to de- 
prive her of one branch of sovereignty not sur- 
rendered by any other .State in the Union, not 
even those "beyond the Ohio; for all of them had 
legislated upo'n this subject ; ail of them had de- 
cided for Ihcinselves wi.elher Slavery should be 
tolerated, at the time they framed their several 
con.--tilution9. He would not now discuss the 
propriety of admitting Slavery. It is not now a 
question whether it is politic or impolitic to tole- 
rate Slavery in the United States, or in a particu- 
lar State. It was a discussion into which he 
would not permit himself to bedragged. Admit, 
however, its moral improprieti/ : yet there was a 
vast diflerence between moral improjiriety and 
political sovereignty. The people of New York 
or Pennsylvania may deem it highly immoral 
and politically improper to permit Slavery, but 
yet they possess the xorcrciirii right and power 
to permit it, if they choose. They can to-morrow 
so alter their constitutions and laws as to admit it, 
if Ihey were so disposed. It is a branch of sove- 
reignty which the old Thirteen States never sur- 
render in the adoption of the Federal Constitu- 
tion. Now, the bill proposes that the new- State 
shall be admitted upon an equal fooling with the 
other states of the Union. ,ll is 'in this way only 
that she can be admitted under the Constitution. 
These words can have no other meaning than 
that she shall be rt^quhi'd In surrender no more 
of her rights of sovereignty than the other States, 
into a union with which she is about to be ad- 
mitted, have surrendered. Hut if the proposed 
amendment is adopted, will not this new Slate be 
shorn of one branch of her sovereignty, one right, 
which the other States mat/ and have exercised, 
(whether properly or not, is immaterial,) and da 
now exercise whenever they think fit ? 

Mr. C. observed, that he did conceive the prin- 
ciple involved in tho amendment pregnant with 
danger. It was one, he repeated, to which he 
believed tho people of the region of country 



20 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



wliicli he rcprosoiitcd would vof quietly snlniiit. 
He in'iLrlit, jterliips, fiuhject himself to" ridicule, 
for ntteiiipl'iiiT (lie display of (i spirit of prophecy 
wliirh li(=^ dill not po.ssoss or of zeal and enthiisi- 
asin t'lr wliicli ho was entitled to little eredit. 
But ho irarnrd the advocates of this measure 
asain-t the certain etfeets which it must produce. 
EiTects destrnclive of the peace and harmony of 
the Union. Ho believed that they werekindlins 
a fire which all the waters of tlio ocean could 
not extinguish. It could l»e extinguished only in 
blood ! ^ 

Mr. LivERMORE»of N. H.,saicl, I am in fa 
vor of the proposed amendment. The object of it is 
to prevent the extension of Slaverv over the Ter- 
ritory ceded to the United States by France. It 
accords with the dictates of reason, and the best 
feeiin'.^s of the human lieart ; and is not calcula- 
ted to interrupt any legitimate right arising either 
from the Constitution Or any other compact. I 
propose to show what Slavery is. and to mention 
a few of the many evils which follow in its train ; 
and I hope to evince that we are not bound to 
tolerate the existence of so disgraceful a state of 
things l)eyond its present extent, and that it 
would be impolitic and very unjust, to let it 
spread over the whole face of our Western Ter- 
ritory. Slavery in the United States, is the con- 
dition of man subjected to the will of a master, 
who can make any disposition of him short of 
taking away his life. In those States wliere it is 
tolerated, laws are enacted, making it penal to in- 
struct slaves in the art of reading, and they are 
not permitted to attend public worship, or to hear 
the gospel preached. Thus, the light of science 
aiid of religion is utterly excluded from the 
mind, that the body may be more easily bowed 
down to servitude. The bodies of slaves may, 
witli impunity, be prostituted to any purpose, 
and deformed in any manner by their owners. 
The sympathies of nature in slaves are disre- 
garded : mothers and children are sold and 
separated ; the children wring their little hands, 
and expire in agonies of grief, while the bereft 
mothers commit suicide, in despair. How long 
will the desire of wealth render us blind to the 
sin of holding both the bodies and souls of oiir 
fellow-men in chains ! But, sir, I am admonished 
of the Constitution, and told we cannot emanci- 
pate slaves. I know we may not infringe that 
instrument, and therefore do not propose to 
emancipate slaves. The proposition before us 
goes only to prevent our citizens from making 
slaves of such as have a right to freedom. In 
the present slaveholding States let Slavery con- 
tinue, for our boasted Constitution connives at 
it ; but ilo not, for the sake of cotton and tobacco, 
let it be told to future ages that, while pretend- 
ing to love liberty, we have purchased an exten- 
sive country, to disgrace it with the foulest re- 
proach of nations. Our Constitution requires no 
such tiling of us. The ends for which that su- 
preme law was made, are succinctly stated in 
its prefice. They are first to form a more per- 
fect Union, and insure domestic tranquillity. 
Will Slavery effect this ? Can we, sir, by mingling 
boiul with free, black spirits with white, like 
Shakespeare's witches in iMacbeth, form a more 
perfect Union, and insure domestic traniiuillity ? 
Secondly, to est.iblish justice. Is justice to "be 
established by subjecting half mankind to the 
will of the other half? Justice, sir, is blind to 
colors, and weighs in equal scales the rights of 
all men, whether while or black. Thirdly, to 

Erovide for the common defense, and secure the 
lessings of liberty. Does Slavery add anything 
to the common defense '/ Sir, the strength of a 
republic is in the arm of freoilom. But, above 
all things, do the blessings of liberty consist in 
Slavery ? If there is any sincerity in our profes- 



sion, that Slavery is an ill, tolerated only from 
necessity, let us not, while we feel that ifl, shun 
the cure, which consists only in an honest avowal 
that liberty and equal rights are the end and aim 
of all our institutions, and that to tolerate 
Slavery beyond the narrowest limits prescribed 
for it by the Constitution, is a perversion of 
them all. 

Slavery, sir, I repeat, is not established by our 
Constitution : but a part of the States are indulged 
in the commission of a sin from which they could 
not at once be restrained, and which they would 
not consent to abandon. But, sir, if we could, 
by any process of reasoning, be bmught to b% 
lieve it justifiable to hold others to involuntary 
servitude, policy forbids that we should increase 
it. Even the present slaveholding States have an 
interest, I think, in limiting the extent of involun- 
tary servitude: for, should sdaves become much 
more numerous, and, conscious of their strength, 
draw the sword against their masters, it will" be 
to the free States the masters must resort for an 
efficient power to suppress servile insurrection. 
But we have made a treaty with France, which, 
we are told, can only be preserved by the charms 
of Slavery. 

Sir, said Mr L., until the ceded Territory shall 
have been made into States, and the new 
States admitted into the Union, we can do what 
we will with it. We can govern it as a province, 
or sell it to any other nation. A part of it is 
probably at this time sold to Spain, and the in- 
habitants of it may soon not only enjoy the com- 
forts of Slavery, but the blessings of the hdy in- 
quisition along with them. The question is on 
the admission of Missouri, as a State, into the 
Union. Surely it will not be contended that we 
are bound by the treaty to admit it. The treaty- 
making power does not extend so far. Can the 
President and Senate, by a treaty with Great 
Britain, make the province of Lower Canada a 
Stateof this Union 7 To be received as a State 
into this Union, is a privilege which no country 
can claim as a right. It is a favor to be granted 
or not, as the United States may choose. When 
the United States think proper to grant a tavor, 
they may annex just and reasonable terms : and 
what can be more reasonable than for these States 
to insist that a new Territory, wishing to have 
the benefits of freedom extended to it, should re- 
nounce a principle that militates with justice, 
morality, religion, and every essential right of 
mankind? Louisiana was admitted into the 
Union on terms. The conditions, I admit, were 
not very important, but still they recognize the 
principles for which I contend. 

An opportunity is now presented, if not to 
diminish, at least to prevent the growth of a sin 
which sits heavily on the soul of e\ery one of 
us. By embracing this opportunity, we may re- 
trieve the national character, and, in some degree, 
our own. But if we sutler it to pass unimproved, 
let us at least be consistent, and declare that our 
Constitution was made to impose Slavery, and 
not to establish liberty. Let us no longer tell 
idle tales about the gradual abolition of Slavery ; 
away with colonization societies, if their de- 
sign is only to rid us of free blacks and tur- 
bulent slaves; have done also with bible so- 
cieties, whoso views are extended to Africa and 
the East Indies, while they overlook the deplora- 
ble coiulition of their sable bretln-en within our 
own borders ; make no more laws to prohibit the 
importation of slaves, for the world must see that 
the object of such laws is alone to prevent the 
glutting of a prodigious market for the tlesh and 
blood of man, which we are about to establish in 
the West, and to enhance the price of stiu-dy 
wret(-hes, reared, like black cattle and horses, for 
sale on our own plantations. 



THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



21 



The House bill Ihus passed, reached the 
Senate, Feb. nth, when it was read twice 
and sent to a Si-leet Committee already 
raise<l on a like application from Alabama, 
consisting of 

Messrs. Tnit (if On., Morrow of Oliio, WilliamB 
of Miss., Edwnrdsof Ill.,Williuiiisof Tc-iin. 

On the 2'2nd, Mr. 'I'ait, from this (\nnmit- 
tee, reportwl the bill with amendments, strik- 
out the anti-slavery restrictions inserted by 
the House. This bill was taken up in Com- 
mittee of the Whole on the '27th, when Mr. 
AVilson of N. J. moved its ])ostponement to 
the r)th of March— that is, to the end of the 
session — negatived : Yeas 14 ; Nays 23. 

The Senate then proce(Kled to vote on 
agreeing to the amendments reported by the 
Select Committee, viz. : 1. to strike out of the 
House bill the following : 

" And thftt all fhildron of slaves born within 
tho said State, after tlio admission thereof into 
tlie Union, shall be free, but may be held to scr- 
Tice until the ago of twenty-ouo years." 

Which was stricken out by the following 

vote : 

YEAS — Against the Restriction: 

Messrs. Barbour of Va Leake of Miss. 

Crittenden of Ky. Maeon of N. C. 

Dan;gett of Conn. Otis of JIass. 

Eaton of Tcnn. Palmer of Vt. 

Edwards of 111. Roberts of Penn. 

Eppes of Va. Sanford of N. Y. 

Fromcntin of La. Tait, of Ga. 

Gaillard of S. C. Talbort of Ky. 
Goldsborough Md. Taylor of Ind. 

lb)rsey of Del. Thomas of III. 

Johnson of La. Trichenor of Vt. 

Kuig of N. Y. Van Dyke of Del. 

Lacoek of Pa. Williams of Miss. 
Williams of Tenn. — 27. 

NAYS — For the Restriction: 

Messrs. Bunill of K. I. Morrill of N. H. 

Diekerson of N. J. Noble of Ind. 
Mellen of Ma.s9. Ruggles of Ohio. 
Wilson of N. J. — 7 

The Senate then proceeded to vote on the 
residue of the House Restriction, as follows : 

" And provided also, That the further introduc- 
tion of slavery or involuntary servitude be pro- 
hibited, except for tho punishment of crhnes, 
whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed." 

The vote on this clause was as follows : 

YEAS — For striking out the Restriction : 

Messrs. Barbour of Va. Leake of Miss. 
Crittenden of Ky. Macon of N. C. 
Eaton of Tenn. Otis of Mass. 
Edwards of III. I'almer of Vt. 
Eppes of Va. Stokes of N. C. 
Fromentin of La. Talbot of Ga. 
Gaillardof S. C. Tait of Ga. 
Goldsborough Md.Thomas of III. 
Horsey of Del. Van Dyke of Del. 
Johnson La. Williams of Miss. 

Laeock of Pa. Williams of Teiin.— 22. 

NA YS — Against striking out : 
Messrs. Burrill of R. I. Noble of Ind. 

Daggett of Conn. Roberts of Pa. 
Dana of do. Ruggles of Ohio, 

Diekerson of N. J. Sauford of N. Y. 



KingofN. Y. StororofN. 11. 

Mellen of Mass. Tavlor of Ind. 

Morrill of N. H. Tiehenor of Vt. 

M. II row uf Ohio, Wilson of N.J. — 16. 

The bill thus amended was ordered to be 
engro.ssed, and was (.March 2nd — last day but 
one of the Session) read a third time, and 
pa.s.scd without a division. 'I'he bill was on 
that day returned to the House, and the 
amendments of the Senate read : whenMij)on, 
Mr. Talimadge of N. Y. moved that the bill be 
postponed indeiinitely. Yeas (JO ; Nays 7t. 

[The rei'ord shows hardly a vote clmnLced from 
Yea, on the original passage of the Restriction, to 
Nay now , but many members who voted then 
were now absent or silent.] 

The vote was then taken on concurring ia 
the Senate's amendments, a.s aforesaid, and 
the House rel'u.sed to concur: Yeas 70; 
Nays 78. 

[Hardly a vote ehanged ; but more Member* 
voting than on tho previous division, and less 
llian when the Restriction was carried.) 

The bill was now returned to the Senate, 
with a message of non-concurrence ; when 
Mr. Tait moved that the Senate adhere to its 
amendment, which was carried without a 
division. 'J'he bill being thus remanded to 
the House, Mr. Taylor of N. Y. moved that 
the House adhere to its disagreement, which 
prevailed. Yeas 78 ; Navs 6G. So the T 
bill fell between the two Houses, and was i 
lost. 



The southern portion of the then Territory 
of Missouri (organized by separation from 
Louisiana in 1812) was excluded from the 
proposed State of Missouri, and organized as 
a separate Territory, entitled Arkansas. 

The bill being under consideration, Mr. 
Taylor of N.Y. moved that the foregoing re- 
striction be applied to it also ; and the clause, 
proposing that slaves born therein alter the 
passage of this act be free at twenty-five 
years of age, was carried (Feb. 17th) by 75 
Yeas to 73 Nays ; but that providing against 
the farther introduction of slaves was lost : 
Yeas 70 ; Nays 71. The next day, the clause 
just adopted was stricken out, and the bill 
ultimately passed without any allusion to 
Slavery. Arkansas of course became a Slave 
Territory and ultimately (183G) a Slave 
State. 



VII. 



THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 

A new Congress assembled on the 6th of 
December, 1819. Mr. Clay was again 
chosen Speaker. On the 8th, Mr. Scott, 
delegate from Missouri, moved that the 
memorial of her 'J'erritorial Legislature, as 
also of several citizens, praying her admis- 
sion into the Union as a State, be referred to 
a select committee ; carried, and Messrs. 
Scott of Mo., Robertson of Ky., Terrell of 



22 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



Ga., Strothcr of Ya., ami Do Witt of N. Y. 
(all but the last from the slave regiou), 
were ajipoiiited said committee. 

Mr. Strong of N. Y. that day gave no- 
tice of a bill " To ))rohibit the farther exten- 
sion of Slavery in the United States." 

On the 14th. Mr. Taylor of N. Y. moved 
a select committee on this subject, which was 
granted ; and the mover, with Messrs. Liv(>r- 
more of N. H., Barbom- (P. P.) of Ya., 
Lowndes of S. C, Fuller of Mass., Hardin 
of Ky., and Cuthbert of Ga., were appointed 
such committee. A majority of this com- 
mittee being Prft-Slavery, Mr. Taylor could 
do nothing ; and on the 28th the Committee 
was, on motion, discharged from the further 
consideration of the subject. 

On the same day .Air. Taylor moved : 

" That a Committee be appointed with instruc- 
tions to report a bill prolubiting the further ad- 
mi.-jsion of Slaves into the Territories of the 
United States west of the river Mississippi.'' 

On motion of Mr. Smith, of Md., this re- 
solve was sent to the Committee of the 
Whole, and made a special order for Jan. 
10th ; but it was not taken up, and appears 
to have slept the sleep of death. 

In the Senate, the memorial of the Mis- 
souri Territorial Legislature, asking admis- 
sion as a State, was presented by Mr. Smith 
of S. C, Dec. 29th, and referred to the 
Judiciary Committee, which consisted of, 

Messrs. Smith of S. C, Lonke of Miss., Bur- 
rill of 1{. I., Logan of Ky., Otis of Mass. 



DANIEL WEBSTER ON SLAVERY EX- 
TENSION. 

The following " Memorial to the Congress 
of the United States, on the subject of re- 
straining the increase of Slavery in New 
States to be admitted into the Union," in 
pursuance of a vote of the inhabitants of 
Boston and its vicinity, assembled at the 
State House on the 3rd of December, 1819, 
was drawn up by Daniel Webster, and signed 
by himself, George Blake, Josiah Quincy, 
James T. Austin, etc. It is inserted here 
instead of the resolves of the various New 
England Legislatures, as a fuller and clearer 
statement of the views of the great body of 
the people of that section during the pen- 
dency of the Missouri question : 

" MEMORIAL 

" To the Senate and Hoiixe of Representatives of 
tlie United States, in Congress assembled : 

" The undersigned, inhabitants of Boston and 
its vicinity, beg leave most respectfully and hum- 
bly to reprc^seut: Tliat the question oi' the intro- 
duction of Slavery into the new Stales to be 
formed on the we^st side of the Mississippi River, 
appears to them to be a question of the last im- 

fortanco to the future welfare of the United States, 
f the progress of this great evil is ever to be 
arrested, it seems to the undersigned lliat this is 
the time to arrest it. A false step takwi uow. 



cannot be retraced ; and it appears to us that the 
happiness of unborn millions rests on the measure 
which Congress on this occasion may adopt. 
Considering this as no local question, nor a ques- 
tion to be decided by a temporary expediency, 
but as involving great interests of the whole 
United States, and affecting deeply and e.'^sentially 
those objects of common defense, general welfare, 
and the perpetuation of the blessings of liberty, 
for which the Constitution itself was formed, we 
have presumed, in this way, to offer our senti- 
ments and express our wishes to the National 
Legislature. And as various reasons have been 
suggested against prohibiting Slavery in the new 
States, it may perhaps be permitted to us to state 
our reasons, both for believing that Congress 
possesses the constitutional power to make such 
prohibition a condition, on the admission of a new 
State into the Union, and that it is just and proper 
that they should exercise that power. 

" And in the first place, as to the constitutional 
authority of Congress. The Constitution of the 
United States has declared that ' Congress shall 
have power to dispose of and make all needful 
rules and regulations respecting the territory or 
other property belonging to the United States: 
and nothing in this Constitution shall be so con- 
strued as to prejudice the claims of the United 
States or of any particular State.' It is very well 
known, that the saving in this clause of the claims 
of any particular State, was designed to apply to 
claims by the then existing States, of territory 
which was also claimed by the United States as 
their own property. It has, therefore, no bearing 
on the present question. The power, then, of 
Congress over its own territories, is, by the very 
terms of the Constitution, unlimited. It may make 
all ' needful rules and regulations,' which of course 
include all such regulations as its own views of 
policy or expediency shall, from time to time, dic- 
tate. If, therefore, in its judgment it be needful 
for the benefit of a territory to enact a prohibition 
of Slavery, it would seem to be as much within 
its power of legislation as any other act of local 
policy. Its sovereignty being complete and unP 
versal as to the territory, it may exercise over it I 
the most ample jurisdiction in every respect. It 
possesses, in this view, all the authority which j 
any State Legislature possesses over its own ter- 
ritory ; and if any State Legislature may, in its 
discretion, abolish or prohibit Slavery within its 
own limits, in virtue of its general legislative 
authority, for the same reasou Congress also may 
exercise the like authority over its own territories.-' 
And that a State Legislature, unless restrained by 
some constitutional provision, may so do, is un- 
questionable, and has been established by general 
practice. ***** 

" The creation of a new State, is, in effect, a 
compact between Congress and the inhabitants 
of the proposed State. Congress would not prob- 
ably claim the power of compelling; the inha- 
bitants of Missouri to form a Constitution of their 
own, and come into the Union as a State. It is as 
plain, that the inhabitants of that territory have 
no right of admission into the Union, as a State, 
without the consent of Congress. Neither party 
is bound to form this connection. It can be formed 
only by the consent of both. What, then, pre- 
vents Congress, as one of the stipulating parties, 
to propose its terms ? And if the other party 
assents to these terms, why do they not effectually 
bind both parties? Or if the inhabitants of tho 
Territory do not choose to accept the proposed 
terms, but prefer to remain under a Territorial 
Government, has Congress deprived them of any 
right, or subjected them to any restraint, which, 
in its discretion, it had no authority to do ? If 
the admission of new States be not the discretion- 
ary exercise of a constitutional power, but in all 
cases an imperative duty, how is it to bo per- 



THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



28 



formed ? If tho Constitution moiins lliut ConprcKs 
slutU admit luw Stuton, does it nicim tliiit Coii- 
gresK KJiall d > tiii« on c\ t-rynjiplicnlioii and under 
all circumistanits .' Or iflhia eonclrurtion cannot 
be iidniitttd, and if it must bo conceded that 
CongrcKB must in Bome respects exercise its dis 
crelion on the nchnission of new States, how is it 
to be shown Ihnt tliat discretion nniv not be exor- 
cised in regard to tliis subject as well hb in regard 
to others .' 

•• Tho Constitution declares, ' that the migratmn 
or inij)ortation of sueii persons as any of tlie States 
noiv CL-istiiii:, shall think i)n>i)er to admit, shall 
not be prohibited by the Congress, prior to the 
year 1808.' II is most manifest that the Constitu- 
tion does contemplate, in tho very terms of tliis 
claute, that Congress possesses the authority to 
l)rohibit the migration or ini))ortation of slaves; 
for it limits the exercise of this authority for a 
specitic period of tmie, leaving it to its full opera- 
tion ever afterward. Ami tUi,s_ power seems ne- 
ceR.sarily included in tTie'authiirlty which Tielongs 
to Congress, ' to regulate connnerce with foreign 
nations and nmnm; Ihc ^iinidl S/ti/cs.' No person 
l»w r\-cr doubted Ihaf (he i)roliibition of the foreign 
slave trade was completely within tho authority 
of Congress since tho year 1808. And why .' Cer- 
tainly oidy because it is embraced in the regula 
tion "of /c/-«'i!'« cummeicc ; and if so, it may for 
the like reason be prohibited since that period 
between the States. Commerce in slaves, since 
the year 1808, being as much subject to the regu- 
lation of Congress as any other commerce, if it 
should SCO fit to enact that no slave should ever 
be sold from one State to anotlicr, it is not per- 
ceived how its constitutional right to make such 
provision could be questioned. It would seem to 
bo too plain to be questioned, that Congress did 
possess tho power, before tho year 1808, to pro- 
hibit the migration or importation of slaves into 
the territories (and in point of fact it exercised 
that power) as well as into any new Slalta : and 
that its authority, after that year, might be as 
fully exercised to prevent the migration or import- 
ation of slaves into any of the old States. And 
if it may prtihibit new States from importing 
slaves, it may surely, as we hund)ly submit, make 
it a condition of the admission of such States into 
the Union, that they shall never import them. 
In relation, too, to its own Territories, Congress 
possesses a more extensive authority, and may, in 
various other ways, eflect tho object. It might, 
for example, make it an express condition of its 
grants of the soil, that its owners shall never hold 
slaves ; and thus prevent the possession of slaves 
from ever being connected with the ownership of 
the soil. 

•' As corroborative of tho views which have 
been already sugijested, the memorialists would 
respectfully call tho attention of Congress to the 
history of tho national legislation, under the Con- 
federation as well as under tho present Constitu- 
tion, on this interfering subject. Unless tho me- 
morialists greatly mistake, it will demonstrate tho 
sense of the nation, at every period of its legisla- 
tion, to have been, that the prohibiticni of Slavery 
was no infringement of any just riirlds belonging 
to free States, and was not incompatible with the 
enjoyments of all the rights and immunities which 
an admission into the Union was supposed to 
confer. 

"The memorialists, after this general survey, 
would respectfully ask the attention of Congress 
to tho state of tho question of the right of Con- 
gress to prohibit Slavery in that part of the former 
Territory of Louisiana which now forms the Mis- 
souri Territory. Louisiana was purchased of 
Franco by the Treaty of the :JOth April, 1803. 
The third article of that Treaty is as Ibllows : ' The 
inhabitants of the ceded Territory shall be incor- 
porated into tho Union of the United States, and 



admitted ns noon na poBBiblo, aceordinfc to the 
prlnriplcs of the Ffilcrnl Contfifiition, to the en- 
joyment of all the rialits, (KlnniftiH' x, and im- 
WHiiitini of ritiziiiH iif ihf UiiHiil Sfiiti^ ; and in 
tho mean lime they shall be maintaineil and i)ro- 
teeted iu the t'n e enjoyment of iheir liberly, pro- 
jierty, and the rcli;;i(in which they j)rol'e-s.' 

" Although the language of this article is not 
very ])reciso or B<-curate, tho memorialists con- 
coive that its real import and iiileni cannot bo 
mistaken. The first clause |irovldi-H for the nd- 
niission of the ceded territory into Ihe I'ninn, 
and th<! succeeding clause shows this must bo 
tirri/nliiif,' to the jiiincijilrii of tlir i'vdi ml ('on- 
stilntion; and this vnri/ qnalijicalion lorr^r'nnly 
cxrlude:< the idea that Confrress were not In he at 
lihcrty to impose any conditions ii/ion siirh ad- 
mission vhicli were consistent trilk the iirintiplen 
(if that Constitution, and which had In; n, or 
)nii,'ht justly be. applied to other new Slatci. 
The lan<;uatje is not by any means so )i( tinted n» 
that of the Kesolve of 1780; and yet it has boon 
seen that that Uestdvo was never suii])i«seil to 
inhibit thi! authority of Congress, as to the intro- 
duction of slavery. Anil it is clear, upon the 
plainest rule of construction, that in the absence 
(if all restrictive language a clause merely pro- 
viding for the admission of a territory into the 
Union, must be construed to authorizes an admis- 
sion in the manner, and upon the terms, which 
the Constitution itself would justify. This con- 
struction derives additional supjiort from the next 
clause. The inhabitants ' shall be admitted as 
soon as possil)Ie, according to the ))rinciple8 of 
Ihe Federal Constitution, to tho enjoyment of all 
the riah/s, adrnntn^es, and immniiilics «{<-ilizens 
of the United Slates.' The rights, advantages, 
and innnnnities here spoken of, must, from tho 
very force of the terms of the clause, be such aa 
are recognized or communicated by tho Consti- 
tution of the United States; such as are common 
to all citizens, and are uniform thron^-hout the 
United States. The clause cannot be referred to 
rights, advantages, and immunities derived ex- 
clusively from the State Government, for theso 
do not depend upon tho Federal Consfilution. 
Hesides, it would be impossible that all the rights, 
advantages, and immunities of citizens of the 
different States, could be at tho same time enjoyed 
by the same persons. These rights are different 
in dilTerent States ; a right exists in one State 
which is denied in others, or is repugnant to other 
rights enjoyed in others. In some of the States, 
a freeholder alone is entitled to vote in elections; 
in some a qualification of personal property is 
sufficient; and in others, ago and freedom are 
the solo qualifications of electors. In some States, 
no citizen is permitted to hold slaves : in othei-s, 
he possesses that power absolutely ; in others, it 
is limited. The obvious meaning, therefore, of 
the clause is, that the rights derived under the 
Federal Constitution, shall be enjoyed by the in- 
habitant of Louisiana in the same nninner ;is by 
tho citizens of other States. The United States, 
by the Constitution, are bound to guarantee to 
every State in the Union a republican t'orm of 
government ; and the inhabitants of Louisiana 
are entitled, when a State, to this guarantee. 
Each Slate has a right to two Senators, and to 
Representatives aceordint; to a certain enumera- 
tion of population, pointed out in the Constitution. 
The inhabitants of Louisiana, upon their admis- 
sion into the Union, are also entitletl to these 
privileges. The Constitution further declares, 
•that tiio citizens of each State shall be entitled 
to all tho privileges and imnmnities of citizens in 
the several States.' It wi)uld seem as if the mean- 
ing of this clause could not well be misinteri)reted. 
It obviously applies to the case of the removal of 
a citizen of one State to another State: and in 
such a cnso it uccuros to the migrating citizen all 



24 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



the priviloirc-s and imnmnitics of citizens in the 
State to which he removes. It cannot surely be 
contended, ui)on any rational interiiretation, that 
it given to liie citizens of each State all (he privi- 
Icj^es and innnnnities of the citizens of every other 
State, at the same time, and under all circum- 
stances. .Such a construction would lend to the 
most extraordinary consequences. It would at 
once destroy all the fundamental limitations of 
the State constitutions upon the riphts of their 
own citizens: and leave all those rights to the 
mercy of the citizens of any other State, which 
should ado]it difl'erent limitations. Accordinj; to 
this construction, if all the State constitutions, 
save one, i)rohibited slavery, it would be in the 
power of that single State, by the admission of 
the right of its citizens to hold slaves, to commu- 
nicate the same right to the citizens of all the 
other States within their own exclusive limits, in 
defiance of their own constitutional prohibitions ; 
and to render the absurdity still more ai>i)arent, 
the same construction would communicate the 
most opposite and irreconcilable rights to the 
citizens of different States at the same time. It 
seems, therefore, to be undeniable, upon any ra- 
tional interpretation, that this clause of the Con- 
stitution communicated no rights in any State 
which its own citizens do not enjoy ; and that the 
citizens of Louisiana, upon their admission into 
the Union, in receiving the benefit of this clause, 
would not enjoy higher or more extensive rights 
than the citizens of Ohio. It would communicate 
to the former no right of holding slaves except in 
States where the citizens already possessed the 
game right under their own State Constitutions 
and laws. , # # « * 

" Upon the whole, the memoriali.sts would most 
respectfully submit that the terms of the Consti- 
tution, as well as the practice of the Governments 
under it, must, as they humbly conceive, entirely 
justify the conclusion that Congress may pro- 
hibit the further introduction of Slavery into its 
own territories, and also make such prohibition a 
condition of the admission of any new State into 
the L^nion. 

"If the constitutional power of Congress to 
make the proposed prohibition be satisfuctorily 
shown, the justice and policy of such prohibition 
seem to the undersigned to be supported by plain 
and strong reasons. The permission of Slavery 
in a new State, necessarily draws after it an ex- 
tension of that inequality of representation, which 
already exists in regard to the original States. 
It cannot be expected that those of the original 
States, which do not hold slaves, can look on 
such an extension as being politically just. As 
between the original States the representation 
rests on compact and plighted faith ; and your 
memorialists have no wish that that compact 
should be disturbed, or that plighted faith in the 
slightest degree violated. But the subject as- 
sumes an entirely different character, when anew 
State proposes to be admitted. With her there is 
no compact, and no faith plighted ; and where is 
the reason that she should come into the Union 
with more than an equal share of political im- 
portance and political power ? Already the ratio 
of representation, established by the Constitution, 
has given to the States holding slaves twenty 
members of the House of Representatives more 
than they would have been entitled to, except 
under the particular provision of the Constitution. 
In all probability, this number will be doubled 
in thirty years. Under these circumstances, we 
deem it not an unreasonable expectation that the 
inhabitants of Missouri should propose to come 
into the Union, renouncing the right in question, 
and establishing a constitution prohibiting it for 
ever. Without dwelling on this topic, we have 
still thought it our duty to present it to the cou- 
eideratiiiu of Congress. We present it with a 



deep and earnest feeling of its importance, and we 
ros])ectfully solicit for it the full consideration of 
the National Legislature. 

" Your memorialists were not without the hope 
that the time had at length arrived when the in- 
convenience and the danger of this description 
of population had become apparent in all jiarts 
of this country, and in all parts of the civilized 
world. It might have been hoped that the new 
.States themselves would have had such a view of 
tlieir own permanent interests and pros])erity as 
would have led them to prohibit its extension and 
increase. The wonderful increase and prosperity 
of the States north of the Ohio is unquestionably 
to be ascribed, in a great measure, to the conse- 
quences of the ordinance of 1787 ; and few, in- 
deed, are the occasions, in the history of nations, 
in which so much can be done, by a single act, 
for the benefit of future generations, as was done 
by that ordinance, and as may now be done by 
tlie Congress of the United States. We a))peal 
to the justice and to the wisdom of the National 
Councils to prevent the further progress of a 
great and serious evil. We appeal to those who 
look forward to the remote consequences of their 
measures, and who cannot balance a temporary 
or trifling convenience, if there were such, against 
a permanent, growing, and desolating evil. We 
cannot forbear to remind the two Houses of Con- 
gress that the early and decisive measures adopt- 
ed by the American Government for the abolition 
of the slave-trade, are among the proudest memo- 
rials of our nation's glory. That Slavery was ever 
tolerated in the Republic is, as yet, to be attrib- 
uted to the policy of another Government. No 
imputation, thus far, rests on any portion of the 
American Confederacy. The Missouri Territory 
is a now country. If its extensive and fertile 
field shall be opened as a market for slaves, the 
Government will seem to become a party to a 
traffic which, in so many acts, through so many 
years, it has denounced as impolitic, unchristian, 
inhuman. To enact laws to punish the traffic, 
and, at the same time, to tempt cupidity and ava- 
rice by the allurements of an insatiable market, 
is inconsistent and irreconcilable. Government, 
by such a course, would only defeat its own pur- 
poses, and render nugatory its own measures. 
Nor can the laws derive support from the man- 
ners of the people, if the power of moral senti- 
ment be weakened by enjoying, under the per- 
mission of Government, great facilities to com- 
mit ofienses. The laws of the United States have 
denounced heavy penalties against the traffic in 
slaves, because such traffic is deemed unjust and 
inhuman. We appeal to the spirit of these laws : 
We appeal to this justice and humanity : We 
ask whether they ought not to operate, on the 
present occasion, with all their force? We have 
a strong feeling of the injustice of any toleration 
of Slavery. Circumstances have entailed it on 
a portion of our community, which cannot be im- 
mediately relieved from it without consequences 
more injurious than the suffering of the evil. But 
to permit it in a new country, where yet no hab- 
its are formed which render it indispensable, what 
is it, but to encourage that rapacity, and fraud, 
and violence, against which we have so long 
pointed the denunciations of our penal code ? 
What is it, but to tarnish the proud fame of the 
country ? What is it, but to throw suspicion on 
its good faith, and to render questionable all its 
professions of regard for the right of humani- 
ty and the liberties of mankind ? 

" As inhabitants of a free country — as citizens 
of a great and rising Republic — as members of a 
Christian community — as living in a liberal and 
enlightened age, and as feeling ourselves called 
upon by the dictates of religion and humanity, 
wo have presumed to offer our sentiments to 
Congress on this question, with a solicitude for 



THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



25 



the evpnt fur beyond vvhnt n common occnsion 
could inspire." 



Instead of rcpriiiliiif,' tlu> Speoc-hos elicited 
by this rrnitrul liieiiie, wiiicli iimst necessarily, 
to a fcreat extent, be a mere reproduction of 
ideas e.\i)ress«l in the debate of tlie last ses- 
sion, aii-eudy fjiven, we lierc insert the lie- 
solves of tlie Ix^fjislatures of New-York, 
New-Jersey, I'ennsylvania, Delaware, and 
Kentucky — the first three beinir unanimous 
expressions in favor of Slavt'ry Kestrielion ; 
the fourth, fr()ni a Slave State, also in favor 
of such Kostrietion, though prol)a!)iy not 
unanimously ap:reed to by the I/^gislaturc ; 
the last a^'ainst Restriction, and also (we 
presume) unanimous. The f^eirislatures of 
the Fr(>e States were generally unanimous 
for Restriction ; those of the Slave States 
(Delaware excepted) unanimous against it. 
It is not deemed necessary to print more 
than the following : 

NEW YORK. 

" State of New- York, in Asecmbly, Jan. 17, 
18-2(1 : 

" M'Acrc^.'s.Tlieinliibitinijthe further extension 
of Slnvory in these United States is a subject of 
deep concern among the people of this State ; and 
whereas wo consider Slavery us an evil much to 
be deplored ; and that every constitutional barrier 
should be interposed to prevent its further exten- 
sion : and that the Constitution of the United 
States clearly gives Congress the rigtit to require 
of new States, not comj)rised with the original 
boundaries of these United States, the prohibition 
of Slavery, as a condition of its admission into the 
Union : Therefore, ^^■^^ 

^'Keso/rrd (if the lionorablc the Senate concur 
herein), That our Senators be instructed, and our 
Representatives in Congrcs.s bo requested, to op- 
pose the admission as a State into the Union, any 
territory not comprised as aforesaid, without 
making the prohibition of Slavery therein an in- 
dispensable condition of admission : therefore, 

"Jiexoivcd, That measures be taken by the clerks 
of the Senate and Assembly of this State, to trans- 
mit copies of the preceding resolutions to each of 
our Senators and Representatives in Congress." 

[Unanimously concurred in by the Senate.] 

NEW JERSEY. 

House of Representatives, ) 
January 2-lth, 1820. ] 

Mr. Wilson of X. J. communicated the 
following Resolutions of the Legislature of 
the State of New- Jersey, which were read : 

" IV/icrcnit. A Bill is now depending in the Con- 
gress of the United States, on the application of 
the people in the Territory of i^Iissoun for the ad- 
mission of that Territory as a State into the Union, 
not containing provisions against Slavery in such 
])riipo.«fd State, and a questidu is made upon the 
right and expediency of such provision. 

■' The representatives of the people of New-Jer- 
sey, in the Legislative Council ami General 
Assembly of the said State, now in session, deem 
it a duty they owe to themselves, to their constitu- 
ent.?, and posterity, to declare and make known 
the opinions they hold upon this momentous sub- 
ject ; and, 

"1. Thei/ do resolve and (fcc/o re, That the further 
admission of Territories into the Union, without 



reslrietion of Slavery, would, in their opinion, ch- 
seiiliiilly impair tli<' right of this iind oilier existing 
Slates to eipiiil represeiitatinn in (Joiigress (a right 
at the foundation of the politicnl coiniiael), inaa- 
inui'li as such newly a<linillc(l slavchouiiiig Stato 
would he represented on the basis ot Ilieir slave 
piipulalion ; a concession made at the formation 
of the Constitutioii in favor of the ilicn existing 
Stales, hut never nlipulatcd for new Stales, nor to 
be inferred from any article or cluubc in that iu- 
slninieiit. 

" 'J. Resolved, That to admit the Territory of 
Missouri as a .Slate into the Union, witliout pro- 
hibiting Slavi'ry Ihcie, would, in the opinion ot the 
representatives of the peo]jle of New-Jersey afore- 
said, be no less than to sanction this great i)oliti- 
cal and moral evil, furnish the ready mcaim of 
peopling a vast Territory with Slaves, and per- 
petuate all the dangers, crimes, and )>erniciou8 
elTects of domestic bondage. 

" 'A. Resolved, As the opinion of the Representa- 
tives aforesaid, That inasmuch an no Territory 
has a right to be admitted into the Union, but on 
theiirinciplesof the Federal Constitution, and only 
by a law of (Congress, consenting thereto on the 
part of the existing States, Congress may rightful- 
ly, ;ind ought to refuse such law, unless upon the 
reasonable and just conditions, assented to on the 
part of the people applying to become one of the 
States. 

" 4. Resolved, In the opinion of the Representa- 
tives aforesaid, That the article of the Constitution 
which restrains Congress from prohit>iting the 
migration or importation of Slaves, until after the 
year 18U8, does, by necessary implicalion, a<lmit 
Ihe general power of Congress over the subject 
of Slavery, and concedes to them the right to rej^u- 
late and restrain such migration and importation 
after that time, into the existing, or any newly-to- 
be created State. 

"5. Resolved, As the opinion of the Representa- 
tives of the people of New-Jersey aforesaid. That 
inasmuch as Congress have a clear right to refuse 
the admission of a Territory into the Union, by 
the terms of the Constitution, they ought in the 
present case to exercise that absolute discretion 
in order to preserve the political rights of the 
several existing States, and prevent the great 
national disgrace and multiplied mischiefs, which 
must ensue from conceding it, as a matter of right, 
in the immense Territories yet to claim admission 
into the Union, beyond the Mississippi, that they 
may tolerate Slavery. 

'• C. Resolved, (with the concurrence of Council,) 
That the Governor of this State be requested to 
transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to 
each of the Senators and Representatives of this 
Stato in the Congress of the United States." 



PENNSYLVANIA. 

House of Representatives, ? 
December llth, ISIU. J 

A motion was made by Mr. Duane and 
Mr. Thackara, and read as follows : 

" The Senate and House of Representatives of 
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, while they 
cherish the riglit of the individual Stales to ex- 
press tlicir opinion upon all public measures pro- 
posed in the Congress of the Union, are awaro 
that its nset'ulncss must in a great degree depend 
upon the discretion with which it is exercised; 
they believe that the right ought not to be resorted 
to upon trivial subjects or unimportant occasions ; 
but they are also persuaded that there are mo- 
ments wlien the neglect to exercise it would be a 
dereliction of public duty. 

"Such an occasion, as in their judgment de- 
mands tlie frank expression of the sentiments of 
Pennsylvania, is now presented. A measure was 



26 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



ardently mipportcd in the last Congress of the 
United "Stnlt's, and will probably be as earnestly 
urged during the existing session of that body, 
wliieli has a palpable tendency to impair the po- 
litical relations of the several States ; wliich is cal- 
culated to mar the social happiness of the present 
and future generations; which, if adopted, would 
impede the march of humanity and Freedom 
through the world; and would transfer from a 
misguided ancestry an odious stain and tix it in- 
delibly upon the present race — a measure, in 
brief, which proposes to spread the crimes and 
cruelties of Slavery from the banks of the Missis- 
sippi to the shores of the Pacitic. When a mea- 
sure of this character is seriously advocated in 
the republican Congress of America, in the nine- 
teenth century, the several States are invoked by 
the duty which they owe to the Deity, by the 
veneration which they entertain for the memory 
of the founders of the Republic, and by a tender 
regard for posterity, to protest against its adoption, 
to refuse to covenant with crime, and to limit the 
range of an evil that already hangs in awful bod- 
ing over so large a portion of the Union. 

" Nor can such a protest be entered by any 
State with greater propriety than by Pennsylvania. 
This commonwealth has as sacredly respected the 
rights of other States as it has been careful of its 
own ; it has been the invariable aim of the people 
of Pennsylvania to extend to the universe, by their 
example, the unadulterated blessings of civil and 
religious freedom ; and it is their pride that they 
have been at all times the practical advocates of 
those improvements and charities among men 
■which are so well calculated to enable them to an- 
swer the purposes of their Creator ; and above all, 
they may boast that they were foremost in re- 
moving the pollution of Slavery from among 
them. 

" If, indeed, the ineasure, against which Penn- 
sylvania considers it her duty to raise her voice, 
■were calculated to abridge any of the rights guar- 
anteed to the several States ; if, odious as Slave- 
ry is, it was proposed to hasten its extinction by 
means injurious to the States upon which it was 
unhappily entailed, Pennsylvania would be 
among the first to insist upon a sacred observ- 
ance of the constitutional compact. But it can- 
\ not be pretended that the rights of any of the 
States are at all to be affected by refusing to ex- 
tend the mischiefs of human bondage over the 
boundless regions of the W&st, a territory which 
formed no part of the Union at the adoption of 
the Constitution ; -which has been but lately pur- 
chased from a European Po-sver by the people of 
the Union at large ; -which may or may not be ad- 
mitted as a State into the Union at the discretion 
of Congress ; which must establish a republican 
form of Government, and no other; and whose 
climate afl'ords none of the pretexts urged for re- 
sorting to the labor of natives of the torrid zone; 
such a territory has no right, inherent or acquired, 
such as those States possessed which established 
the existing Constitution. When that Constitu- 
tion was framed in September, 1787, the conces- 
sion that three-fifths of the slaves in the States 
then existing should be represented in Congress, 
could not have been intended to embrace regions 
at that time held by a foreign power. On the con- 
trary, so anxious were the Congress of that day 
to confine human bondage within its ancient 
(home, that on the I3th of July, 1787, that body 
unanimously declared that Slavery or involuntary 
' servitude should not exist in the extensive tcrn- 
I tories bounded by the Ohio, the Mississippi, 
( Canada and the Lakes ; and in the ninth article 
i of the Constitution itself, the power of Congress 
/i/to prohibit the (tHii^^ralion of servile persons after 
}• 1808, is expressly recognized ; nor is there to bo 
found in the statute-book a single instance of the 
admission of a Territory to the rank of a State in 
■which Congress have not adhered to the right, 



vested in them by the Constitution, to stipulate 
with the Territory upon the conditions of the 
boon. 

'■ The Senate and House of Representatives of 
Pennsylvania, therefore, cannot but deprecate 
anv departure from the humane and enlightened 
policy pursued not only by the illustrious Con- 
gress which framed the Constitution, but by their 
successors without exception. They are persuad- 
ed that, to open the fertile regions of the West to 
a servile race, would tend to increase their num- 
bers beyond all past example, would open a new 
and steady market for the lawless venders of hu- 
man flesh, and would render all schemes for obht- 
erating this most foul blot upon the American 
character useless and unavailing. 

" Under these convictions, and in the full per- 
suasion that upon this topic there is but one opin- 
ion in Pennsylvania — 

" Resolved 1/7/ the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the Commoiiwealtk of Pennsylvania, 
That the Senators of this State in the Congress of 
the United States be, and they are hereby in- 
structed, and that the Representatives of this 
State in the Congress of the United States be, and 
they are hereby requested, to vote against the ad- 
mission of any Territory as a State into the Union, 
unless said Territory shall stipulate and agree 
that ' the further introduction of Slavery or in- 
voluntary servitude, except for the punishment of 
crimes whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall he prohibited ; and that all chil- 
dren bom -within the said Territory, after its ad- 
mission into the Union as a State, shall be free, 
but may be held to service until the age of twen- 
ty-five years.' 

"Resolved, That the Governor be, and he is 
hereby requested to cause a copy of the foregoing 
preamble and resolution to be transmitted to such 
of the Senators and Representatives of this State 
in the Congress of the tinited States. 

" Laid on the table.'' 

•'Thursday, December 16, 1819. 

" Agreeably to the order of the day, the House 
resumed the consideration of the resolutions post- 
poned on the 14th inst., relative to preventing the 
introduction of Slavery into States hereafter to be 
admitted into the Union. And on the question, 
' Will the House agree to the resolution V the 
Yeas and Nays were required by Mr. Randall and 
Mr. Souder. and stood— Yeas, 74— (54 Democrats, 
20 Federalists) ; Nays, 7ione. Among the Yeas 
were David R. Porter, late Governor, Josiah 
Randall of Philadelphia, now a Whig supporter 
of Buchanan, William Wilkins, late minister to 
Russia, now in the State Senate, Dr. Daniel 
Sturgeon, late U. S. Senator, etc-, etc. Wilham 
buane, editor of The Aurora, then the Demo- 
cratic Organ, also voted for the resolutions, 
as ho had prominently advocated the principle 
they asserted. 

" The Senate unanimously concurred, and the 
Resolves were signed by Gov. William Findlay." 

DELAWARE. 

In Senate of the United States, early in 
1820, Mr. Van Dyke communicated the fol- 
lowing Resolutions of the Legislature of the 
State of Delaware, -which were read : 

" Resolved, by the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the State of Delaware, in General 
Assembly met : That it is, in the opinion of this 
General Assembly, the constitutional right of the 
United States, in Congress assembled, to enact 
and establish, as one of the conditions for the ad- 
mission of a new State into the Union, a provision 
which shall effectually prevent the further intro- 
duction of Slavery into such State ; and that a duo 
regard to the true interests of such State, as well 



THE SECOND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



2T 



ns of the other States, require that the same should 
bo lioiie. 

" A't'.so/iTf/. That a copy of the above and fore- 
goinj; re.sDiution l)o trnii.sinittod, by the Snoakor 
of the Si'imte, to ciich of the Senators and Kei)re- 
sontnlivcs fiDiu tliis State in the Con^jrena of tho 
United States." 

KENTUCKY. 

In Heiiafo, .Tannary '24th, 1820, Mr. Logan 
Cniiniuiiiicated tho rollowiii;,' pi-e;unl)le and 
Kosohitioiis of tlic LofiislatufO of tho State 
of Kentucky, whioh woro rotul : 

" W/wrcrts, Tiie Con.stitution of the United 
States provides for tlie admission of new States 
into tlie Union, and it ia just and projjor that all 
sueh States should be established upon the footin;^ 
of orif^iiial .States, with a view to the preservation 
of State Sovereif^nty, the prosperity of sucli new 
State, and the f;oo(l of their eiti/ens ; and ichercu.t, 
sueeessl'ul attempts have been hrretufore made, 
and are now making;, (o prevent the Peonlcof the 
Territory of Missouri from beini; adniitteil into the 
Union as a State, unless trannneled by rules and 
refiubitious wliieh do not exist iu the original 
Stales, pariieularly in relation to the toleration of 
Slavery. 

"11 'hrrrn.i, also, if Con},'ress ean thus trammel or 
control the powers of a Territory in the formation 
of a State jjovernincnt, that body may, on the 
same pniieiple, reduce its powers to little more 
than those ipossessed by the people of the District 
of Columbia; and whilst protessing to make it a 
Sovereign .State, may bind it in perpetual vas- 
salage, and reduce it to the condition of a province ; 
sueh State must necessarily become the dependent 
of Congress, asking such powers, and not the iu- 
dependcMt State, demanding rights. Ami ichcrrris, 
it is neeessnry, in preserving the State Sovereign- 
ties in their present rights, that no new State 
should be subjected to this restriction, any more 
than an old one, and that there can be no reason 
or justice why it should not be entitled to the 
same privileges, when it is bound to bear all the 
burdens and taxes laid upon it by Congress. 

"In passing the following Uesolulion, the Gene- 
ral Assembly refrains from expressing any opinion 
eitlier hi favor or against the principles of Slavery ; 
but to support and maintain State rights, which 
it conceives necessary to be supported and main- 
tained, to preserve tho liberties of the free people 
of these United States, it avows its solemn con- 
viction, that the States already confederated under 
one common Constitution, have not a right to 
deprive new St.-ites of equal privileges with them- 
selves. Therefore, 

" Resulvc'l, by the General Assembly of the 
Commonweahh of Kentucky, That the Senators 
in Congress from this State be instructed, and the 
Representatives be requested, to use their et^'orts 
to procure the passage of a law to admit the people 
of Missouri into the Union, as a State, whether 
those people will sanction Slavery by their Con- 
stitution, or not. 

" Resolved, That the Executive of this Com- 
monwealth be requested to transmit this Resolu- 
tion to the Senators and Representatives of this 
State in Congress, that it may be laid before that 
body lor its consideration." 

The bill authorizing Mis.«ouri to form a 
constitution, etc., came up in tho House as a 
special order, Jan. 24th. Mr. Taylor of X. 
Y. moved that it be postponed for one week : 
Lost : Yeas 87 ; Nays 88. Whereupon the 
House adjourned. It was considered in com- 
mittee the next day, as also ou the 28th aud 



30th, and thence dei)ated daily until the lOth 
of February, when a bill cunie down from 
the Sentite " to admit tiie State f)f Muiie 
into tho Union," i)utwith a rider authorizing 
the people of .Miss(;uri to form a State Con- 
stitution, etc., without restriction on tho sub- 
ject of Slavery. 

'I'iio House, very early in tlio session, passed 
a bill ])roviding for llio admission of .Maine 
as a State. This bill came to tho Senate, 
and wa»s sent to its Judiciary (,'ominiltee 
aforesaid, which ainonded it by tuldiiig a 
provision for .Missouri as above. After 
several days' debate in Senate, Mr. llolx-rta 
of I'a. moved to recommit, so as to strilsO 
out all but the admission of Maine ; which 
was defeated (Jan. 14th. 1820)— Yeas 18; 
Nays 2.5. Hereupon Mr. Thomas of III. 
(who voted with the majority, a,s uniformly 
against any restriction on Missouri) gave 
notice that he should 

" ask leave to bring a bill to prohibit the intro- 
duction of Slavery into the Territories of the 
United Stntex North and West of the contem- 
plated State of Missouri." 

— which he accordingly did on the 1 0th ; 
when it Avas read and ordered to a third 
reading. 

[Note. — Great confusion and misconception ex- 
ists in the public min<l with recrard to "the ;\Iissouri 
Restriction," two totally difTereiit (jropositions 
being called by that name. The oriirinal Re- 
striction, which Mr. Clay vehemently opposed, 
and Mr. JefTerson in a letter characterized as a 
" tire-b(ll in the night, " contemplated the limita- 
tion of .Slavery in its exclusion from the State of 
Missouri. This was ultimately defeatcfl, as wo 
shall see. The second proposed Restriction was 
that of Mr. Tlnmias, just cited, which proposed 
the exclusion of Slavery, not from tho State of 
Missouri, but from the Territories of the United 
States North and West of that State. This 
pfoposition did not emanate from the original 
Missouri Restrictionists, but from their adversa- 
ries, and was but reluctantly and partially ac- 
cepted by the former.] 

The Maine admission bill, with the pro- 
posed amendments, was discussed through 
several days, until, Feb. 16th, the question 
was taken on the Judiciary Committee's 
amendments (authorizing Missouri to form a 
State Constitution, and saying nothing of 
Slavery), which were adopted by the follow- 
ing vote : 

YEAS — Against the Restriction on Missouri: 

Messrs. Barbour of Va. Logan of Ky. 

Hrown of La. Macon, of N. C. 

Eaton of Tcim. Pinkncy of Md. 

Edwards of 111. Pleasants of Va. 

Elliott of Ga. Smith of S. C. 

Gaillard of S. C. Stokes of N. C. 

Johnson of Ky. Taylor of Ind. 

Johnson of La. Thomas <^i l\\. 

King (\Vm. R.), Ala. Walker of Ala. 

Leake of Miss. Walker ot (Ja. 

Llovd of Mil. Williams of Miss. 
"Williams of Tenn.— 23. 

[20 from Slave States ; 3 (iu italic^) from 
Free Stales.] 



28 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



NA YS — For Restriction . 



Messrs. Burrill of R. I. 
Diina of Ct. 
Dickinson of N. J. 
Horsey of Del. 
Hunter of R. I. 



Noble of md. 
Otis c)f Mass. 
Palmer of Vt. 
Parrott of N. H. 
Roberts of Pa. 



King (Rufus) of N. Y. Ruirglos of Ohio, 
Lanmanof Conn. SanfordofN. Y. 

Lowrio of Pa. Ticlicnor of Vt. 

Mellen of Mass. Trimble of Ohio, 

Morrill of N. H. Van Dyke of Del. 

Wilson of N. J.— 21 

[19 from Free States, 2 (in italics) from 
Delaware.] 

Mr. Thoma.? of 111. then proposed his 
amendment, as follows : 

" And be it fnr/ficr enacted, That the sixth 
article of compact of the Ordinance of Con- 
gress, ])assed July 13th, 1787, for the govem- 
ment of the Territory of the United States, north- 
west of the river Ohio, shall, to all intents and 
purposes, be, and hereby is, deemed and held ap- 
plicable to, and shall have full force and effect m 
and over, all (hat tract of country ceded by 
France to the United States under the name of 
Louisiana which lies north of thirty-si.x degrees 
and thirty minutes, north latitude, excepting only 
such part thereof as is included within the limits 
contemplated by this act." 

On the following day Mr. Thomas with- 
drew the foregoing and substituted the fol- 
lowing : 

'^And heitfiirther enacted, That in all that Ter- 
ritory ceded by France to the United States under 
the name of Louisiana which lies north of thirty- 
six degrees thirty minutes, north latitude, except- 
ing only such part thereof as is included within 
the limits of the State contemplated by this act, 
Slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise 
than in the punishment of crime whereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted, shall be 
and is hereby forever prohibited. Provided 
alicayf, that any person escaping into the same, 
from where labor or service is lawfully claimed 
in any State or Territory of the United States, 
such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and con- 
veyed to the person claimiug his or her labor 8r 
service as aforesaid." 

Mr. Trimble of Ohio moved a substitute 
for this, somewhat altering the boundaries 
of the region shielded from Slavery, which 
was rejected : Yeas 20 (Northern) ; Nays 
24 (Southern, with Noble, Edwards, and 
Taylor, as aforesaid). 

The question then recurred on Mr. Thom- 
as's amendment, which was adopted as fol- 
lows : 

YEA S — For excluding Slavery from all the 
Territory North and West of Missouri : 
Messrs. Brown of La. Mellen of Mass. 

Burrill of R. 1. Morrill of N. II. 

Dana of Conn. Otis of Mass. 

Dickorson of N. J. Palmer of Vt. 

Eaton of Tenn. Parrott of N. II. 

Edwards of 111. Pinkney of Md. 

Horsey of Del. Roberts of Pa. 

II uuler of R. I. Ruggles of Ohio, 

Johnson of Ky. Sanford of N. Y. 

Johnson of La. Stokee of N. C 

King (VVm. R.) of Ala. Thomas of 111. 

King (Rufus) of N. Y. Tichenor of Vt. 

Lanman of Conn. Trimble of Ohio, 

Leake of Miss. Van Dyke of Del. 

Lowrie of Pa. Walker of Ala. 



Lloyd of Md. 
Logan of Ky. 



Williams of Ten. 
Wilson of N. J.— 34 



NAYS — As;ainst such Restriction . 



Messrs. Barbour of Va. 
Elliott of fta. 
Gaillard of S. C. 
Macon of N. C. 
Noble of Ind. 
Pleasants of Va. 



Smith (Wm.) of 

S C 
Tavlor of Ind. 
Walker of Ga. 
Williams of 

Miss. -10. 



fit will here be seen that the Restriction ulti- 
mately adopted, that excluding Slavery from all 
territory then owned by the United States North 
and West of the Southwest border of the State of 
Missouri, was proposed by an early and steadfast 
opponent of the Restriction originally proposed, 
relative to Slavery in the contemplated State of 
Missouri, and was sustained by the votes of four- 
teen Senators from Slave States, including the 
Senators from Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana, with one vote 
each from North Carolina and Mississippi. 

The current assumption that this Restriction 
was proposed by Rufus King of New York, and 
mainly sustained by the antagonists of Slavery 
Extension, is wholly mistaken. The truth, doubt- 
less, is, that it was suggested by the more moder- 
ate opponents of the proposed Restriction on Mis- 
souri — and supported also by Senators from Slave 
States — as a means of overcoming the resistance 
of the House to Slavery in Missouri. It was, in 
effect, an offer from the milder opponents of 
Slavery Restriction to the more moderate and 
flexible advocates of that Restriction — " Let ub 
have Slavery in Missouri, and we will unite with 
you in e.xcluding it from all the uninhabited 
territories North and West of that State." It 
was in substance an agreement between the North 
and the South to that effect, though the more de. 
termined champions, whether of Slavery Exten- 
sion or Slavery Restriction, did not unite in it] 

The bill, thus amended, was ordered to be 
engrossed for a third reading by the follow- 
ing vote : 

YEAS— For the Missouri Bill : 

Messrs. Barbour of Va. Lloyd of Md. 

Brown of La. Logan of Ky. 

Eaton of Tenn. Parrott of N. H. 

Edwards of 111. Pinkney of Md. 

Elliott of Ga. Pleasants of Va. 

Gaillard of S. C. Stokes of N. C. 

Horsey of Del. Thomas of 111. 

Hunter ofR.L VanDyke,Del. 

Johnson of Ky. Walker of Ala. 

Johnson of La. Walker of Ga. 

King of Ala. Williams of Miss. 

Leake of Miss. Williams, Tenn. — 24. 

NA YS— Against the Bill : 

Messrs. Burrill of R. I. Otis of Mass. 

Dana of Conn. Palmer of Vt. 

Dickerson of N. J. R()l)erts of Pa. 

King of N. Y. Ruggles of Ohio, 

Lanman of Conn. Sanford of N. Y. 

Lowrio of Pa. Smith of S. C. 

Mncon of N. C. Taylor of Ind. 

Mullen of Mass. Tichenor of Vt. 

Morrill of N. H. Trimble of Ohio, 

Noble of Ind. Wilson of N. J. 
—20. 



THE 8EC0ND MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 



29 



The bill was thus passed (Feb. IHtli) willi- 
out further division, and sent to the House 
for conenrrence. In tiie House, iMr.'I'honi- 
as's aineiidni'Mt (as aliove) was at first re- 
jected bv botii parties, antl defeated by the 
stron<r vote of 159 to IB. The Yeas (to 
adopt) were, 
Missi-rt Hiildu-iii of Pa. MoecliofVt. 

H'lvlv of Mil. Mcn-or of Vn. 

JJlooinliol.l of N. J. Quiiilcfl of Ky. 

C.K-ko of Toiin. liiiii;:,'..!.! ofMil. 

( 'laflrt of Vt. Sli.iw of .M.i.-is. 

CiillK-ppcr of N. C. !Slo;iii of Oliio. 

Kiiisciy of N.J. Smiiliof N.J. 

Lntliri>)ii>fMiis8. Smith of Md. 

1/ittleofiM.l. Till r of I'a.— 18. 

Prior to tliis vote, the House disajjjreed to 
the ioj^-rollinir of Maine ami Missouri, into 
one bill by the strons^ vote of 93 to 72. 
[We do not "[ive tlie Yeas and Nays on this 
decision ; but the majority was composed of 
the representatives of tiie Free States with 
only four e.x'ceptions ; and Mr. Louis MeLane 
of Delaware, who was constrained by in- 
structions from his legislature. His col- 
leatrue, Mr. Willard Hall, did not vote.] 

Tiie members from Free States who voted 
with the Soutii to keep Maine and Missouri 
united in one bill were, 

Messrs. II. Baldwin of Pa. Henry Moigs of N. Y. 
Blooiufiddof N. J. Iloiiry .Sluiw of M:iss. 

The House also disagreed to the remain- 
ing amendments of the Senate (striking out 
the restriction on Slavery in Missouri) by 
the strong vote of 102 Yeas to G8 Nays. 

[Nearly or quite every Representative of a Free 
State voted in the majority of this division with 
the following from Slave States : 

Loiii.-^ McLancDel. Nel.^on, 3Id. 
Alat-y McLean, Ky. Trimble, Ky.] 

So the House rejected all the Senate's 
amendments, and returned the bill with a 
corresponding message. 

The Senate took up the bill on the 2'lth, 
and debated it till the 28th, when, on a direct 
vote, it was decided not to recede from the 
attachment of Missouri to the Maine bill : 
Yeas 21 : (19 from Free States and 2 from 
Delaware ;)' Nays 23 ; (20 from Slave States, 
with Messrs. Taylor of Ind., Edwards and 
Thomas of 111.) 

The Senate also voted not to recede from 
its amendment prohibiting Slavery west of 
Mis.?ouri, and north of 30'' 30', north latitude. 
(For receding, 9 from Slave States, with 
Messrs. Noble and Tavlor of Ind. : against 
■it 33— (22 from Slave'States, 11 from Free 
States.) The remaining amendments of the 
Senate were then insisted on without division, 
and the House notified accordingly. 

The bill was now returned to "the House, 
which, on motion of Mr. John W. Taylor 
of N. Y.. voted to insist on its disagreement 
to all but see. 9 of the Senate's amendments, 
by Yeas 97 to Nays 7(3 : [all but a purely 
sectional vote : Hugh Nelson of Va. voting 
with the North : Baldwin of Pa., Bloomfield 



of N. J., anil Shaw of Mass., voting with the 
Soiitli] 

Sec. 9, (the Senate's exclusion of Slavery 
from the 'firritory north and west of Mis- 
souri) wa.s al.so rejected — Y<'as iGl) ; Nays 
14, (much as before.) The Senate there- 
upon (.March 2nd) passed the House's Mis- 
souri bill, striking out the restriction of 
Slavery by Yeas 27 to Nays If), and adding 
without a division the exclusion of Slavery 
from the Territory west and north of said 
State. Mr. Trimble again moved the exclu- 
sion of Slavery from Arkansas also, but was 
again voted down ; Yeas 12 ; Nays 30. 

The Senate now asked a conference, which 
the House granted without a division. The 
Committee of Conference was compo.sed of 
Messrs. Thomas of 111., Pinkney of Md.,and 
Barbour of Va. (all anti-restrictionists), on 
the part of the Senate, and Messrs. Holmes 
of >lass., Taylor of N. Y., Lowndes of S. C, 
Parker of Mass., and Kinsey of N. J., on 
the part of the House. [Such eon.stitiition 
of the Committee of Conference was in effect 
a .surrender of the Restriction on tlie pari of 
the House.] John Holmes of Ma.ss.. from 
this Committee, in due time (March 2nd), re- 
ported that, 

1. The Senate should give up the combina- 
tion of Missouri in the same bill with 
-Maine. 

2. The House should abandon the attempt 
to restrict Slavery in Missouri. 

3. Both Houses should agree to pass the 
Senate's separate Missouri bill, with Mr. 
Thomas's restriction or compromising pro- 
viso, excluding Slavery from all Territory 
north and west of Missouri. 

The report having been read, 
The first and most important question 
was put, viz. : 

" AVill the House concur with the Senate in so 
much of the said amendments as ])roi)oscs to 
strike from the fourth section of the [.Missouri] 
bill the provision prohibitiiif^ Slavery or involun- 
tary servitude, in the contemplated State, other- 
wise than in the punishment of crimes?" 

On which question the Yeas and Nays 
were demanded, and were as follow : 
YEAS — For giving up Rtstriction on Mis- 
souri : 

Massachu.setts — Mark Lanjjdon Hill, John 
Holmes. Jonathan Mason, Henry Shaw — 4. 

Khodk Island. — Samuel Eiklj' — 1. 

Co.vxKCTicuT. — Samuel A. Foot, James Stc- 
phcn.s — 2. 

New-York. — Henry Meigs, Henry R. Storrs 
—2. 

Nkw-Jeusey. — Joseph Bloomfield, Charles 
Kinsey, Bernard Smith — 3. 

PE.N.Nsyi.v.\.NiA. — Henry Baldwin, Dtivid Ful- 
lerton — 2. 

Total from Free States 14. 

Delaware. — Louis McLane — 1. 

M A 11 Y I. AN !>■ — Steplu'Dsoii Ari'her, Thomas Bay- 
ly, Thomas Culbrelii. Jo.-jfph Kent. Peter Little, 
Ivnph.ul Ne.ilo, Saiiuiel lviiig;,'iild, Samuel Smith, 
Henry H. Wi.rfield— <). 

ViUGiMA. — Mark Alexander, William S. 
Archer, Philip P. Barbour, William A. Burwell, 



30 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



John Floyd, Robert S. Gavnett, Jame? Johnson, 
Juiiifs Joiios, Williiun McCoy, Chnrles P. Mereer, 
Hiigli Ntlsoii, Thomas Nelson, Severn E. Par- 
ker, Jas Pindall, John Raudolph, Ballard Smith, 
Alexander .Smyth, George V. Strother, Thomas 
Van SwenrinRen, George Tucker, John lylcr, 
Jared Williams— ^2. 

North Caholina. — Hutchina G. Burton, John 
Culpoijper. William Davidson, Weldon N. Ed- 
wards, Charles Fisher, Thomas H. Hall, Charles 
Hooks. Thomas Settle, Jesse Slocumb, James 
K. Smith, Felix Walker, Lewis Williams— 12. 

South Carolina. — Josiah Brevard, Elias 
Earle, James Ervin, William Lowndes, James 
MeCroary, James Overstreet, Charles Pinckney, 
Eldred Simkins. ISterlinsr Tucker— 9. 

Gedugia Joel A. Abbott, Thomas W. Cobb, 

Joel Crawford, John A. Cuthbert, Robert E. 
Keid, W'illiam Terrell— (i. 

Alabama. — John Crowell — 1. 
Missis."? IP I'l. — John Rankin — 1. 
Louisiana.— Thomas Butler — 1. 
Kentucky.— Richard C. Anderson, jr., William 
Brown, Benjan\in Hardin, Alney McLean, 
Tliomas Metcalf, Tuustall Quarles, Geo. Robert- 
Bon, David Trimble — 8. 

Tennessee— Robert Allen, Henry H. Bryan, 
Newton Camion, John Cocke, Francis Jones, 
John Rhea— 5. 

Total Yeas from Slave States 76 ; in all 90. 
NAYS— Against giving itp the Restriction 
on Slavery in Missouri : 

New-Hampshire Joseph Bufitum, jr., Josiah 

Butler, Clifton Clagett, Arthur Livermore, Wil- 
liam Plumer. jr., Nathaniel Upham.. .6. 

Massachusetts (including Maine). ..Benjamm 
Adams. Samuel C Allen. Joshua Cushmau. Ed- 
ward Dowse, Walter Folder, jr., Timothy Fuller, 
Jonas Kendall, Martin Kinsley, Samuel Lathrop, 
Enoch Lincoln, Marcus Morton, Jeremiah Nelson. 
James Parker. Zabdiel Sampson, Nathaniel Sils- 
bee, Ezekiel Whitman — 16. 

Rhode Island Nathaniel Hazard_l. 

Connecticut —Jonathan O. Moseley, Ehsha 
Phelps. John Russ, Gideon Tomlinson— 4. 

Vermont Samuel C. Crafts, Rollin C. Mal- 

lary, Ezra Meech, Charles Rich, Mark Richards, 
William Strong_(i. 

New-York Nathaniel Allen, Caleb Baker, 

Robert Clark. Jacob H. De Witt, John D. Dick- 
inson, John Fay, William D. Ford, Ezra C. Gross, 
James Guyon" jr., Aaron Hackley. jr., George 
Hall, Joseph S. Lyman, Robert MoncU, Nathaniel 
Pitcher, Jonathan Richmond, Randall S. Street, 
James Strong, John W. Taylor, Albert H. 
Tracy. Solomon Van Rensselaer, Peter H. W en- 
dover, Silas Wood_22. 

New-Jersey.. -Ephraim Bateman, John Linn, 
Henry Southard — 3. „r^,^■ 

Pennsylvania -Andrew Boden, William 
Darlington, George Dennison, Samuel Edwards, 
Thomas Forrest, Samuel Gross, Joseph Hemphill, 
Jacob llibschman, Joseph Heister, Jacob Hostet- 
ter, William P. Maclay, David Marchand, Robert 
Mooio, Samuel Moore, John Murray. Thomas 
Patterson, Robert Philson, Thomas J. Rogers, 
John Sergeant, Christian Tarr, James M.Wal- 
lace- 21. , ^ , 

Ohio Philemon Beecher, Henry Brush, John 

W. Campbell, Samuel Herrick, Thomas R. Ross, 
John Sloane — 6. 

Indiana. — William Hendricks- -1. 
Illinois Daniel P. Cook — 1. 

Total Nays 87— all from Free States. 

[The members apparently absent on this im- 
portant division, were Henry W. Edwards of 
Conn., Walter Case and Ilonorius Peck of N. Y. 
mid John Condit of N. J., from the Free States; 



with Lemuel Sawyer of N. C, and David Walker 
of Ky., from the Slave States. Mr. Clay of Ky. > 
being Speaker, did not vote.] 

This defeat broke the back of the Northern 
resistance to receiving Missouri as a Slave 
State. 

Mr. Taylor, of N. Y., now moved an amend- 
ment, intended to include Arkansas Territory 
under the proposed Inhibition of Slavery 
West of Missouri ; but this motion was cut 
off by the Previous Question (which then 
cut off amendments more rigorously, accord- 
ing to the rules of the House, than it now 
does), and the House proceeded to concur 
with the Senate in inserting the exclusion of 
Slavery from the Territory West and North 
of Missouri, instead of that just stricken out 
by 134 Yeas to 42 Nays, (the Nays being 
from the South). So the bill was passed in 
the form indicated above ; and the bill ad- 
mitting Maine as a State, (relieved, by a 
conference, from the Missouri rider,) passed 
both Houses without a division, on the fol- 
lowing day. 

Such was the virtual termination of the 
struggle for the restriction of Slavery in 
Missouri, which was beaten by the plan of 
proffering instead an exclusion of Slavery 
from all the then Federal Territory West and 
North of that State. It is unquestionable 
that, without this compromise or equivalent, 
the Northern votes, which passed the bill, 
could not have been obtained for it. 

YIIL 

THE THIRD MISSOURI STRUGGLE. 

Though the acceptance of Missouri as a 
State, with a Slave Constitution, was forever 
settled by the votes just recorded, a new ex- 
citement sprang up on her presenting herself 
to Congress (Nov. IG, 1820), with a State 
Constitution, framed on the 19th of July, 
containing the following resolutions : 

" The General Assembly shall have no power 
to pass laws, Fu'st, for the emancipation of slaves 
without the consent of their owners, or without 
paying them, before such emancipation, a full 
equivalent for such Slaves so emancipated ; and. 
Second, to prevent bona fde emigrants to this 
State, or actual settlers therein from bringing 
from any of the United States, or from any of 
their Territories, such persons as may there be 
deemed to be Slaves, so long as any persons of 
the same description are allowed to be held as 
Slaves by the laws of this State. 

» * * •' It shall be their duty, as soon as 
may be, to pass such laws as may be necessary, 

" First, to prevent free necrroes and mulattocs 
from coming to, and settling in, this State, under 
any pretext whatever." 

The North, still smarting under a sense of 
its defeat on the question of excluding Slavery 
from Missouri, regarded this as needlessly de- 
fiant, insulting, and inhuman, and the last 
quoted as palpably in violation of that clause 
of the Federal ('onstilution which gives to the 
citizens of each State (which blacks are, in 



THE ANNEXATION" OF TEXAS. 



81 



several Free States,) the rififlits of citizens in 
evL'i-y State. A determined resistaiiec to any 
sucli exclii*i()n was manifested, and a portion 
of tlie Nortiiern Members evineed a disposi- 
tion to renew tiie strugufle airainst the further 
intriuhu'tion of Shives into Missouri. At 
the first elT)rt to carry her admission, the 
House voted it down — Yeas, 7'.) ; Nays, <)."{. 
A second attempt to admit her, on condition 
pile would expunge the olmoxious cUiuse (last 
quoted) of her (Constitution, was vt)ted down 
Btill more decisively — Yeas, ; Nays, 146. 

The House now rested, until a joint resolve, 
admit tinij: her with but a va-jue and ineffect- 
ive f[ualitication, came down from the Senate, 
where it was jiassed by a vote of '2G to IH — 
six Senators from Free States in the afTirma- 
tivc. Mr. ('lay, who had resiurned in the 
recess, and l)een succeeded, as Speaker, by 
John W. Taylor, of New York, now appeared 
as the leader of the Missouri a(hnissionists, 
and proposed terms of compromise, which 
were twice voted down by the Northern 
Members, aided by John Randolph and three 
others from the South, who would have 
Mis.souri admitted without condition or qua- 
lification. At last, Mr. Clay proposed a 
Joint Committee on this subject, to be chosen 
by ballot — whicli the House agreed to by 
101 to 5.5 ; and Mr. (]^lay became its Chair- 
man. By this Committee it was agreed, that 
a solemn pledge should be required of th 
Legislature of Missouri, that the Constitution 
of that State should not be construed to 
authorize the passage of any Act, and that 
no Act should be passed, " by which any of 
the citizens of either of the States should be 
excluded from the enjoyment of the privileges 
and immunities to which they are entitled 
under the Constitution of the United States." 
The Joint Resolution, amended by the addi- 
tion of this proviso, passed the House by 86 
Yeas to 82 Nays ; the Senate concurred 
(Feb. 27th. 1821.) bv 26 Yeas to 15 Nay.s— 
(all Northern but "Macon, of N. C.) xMis- 
souri complied with tlie condition, and be- 
came an accepted member of the Union. 
Thus closed the last stage of the fierce Mis- 
souri Controversy, which for a time seemed 
to threaten — as so many other controversies 
have harmlessly threatened — the existence of 
the Union. 

IX. 

EXTENSION OF MISSOURI. 

The State of Missouri, as originally or- 
ganized, was bounded on the West by a line 
already specified, which excluded a triangle 
West of said lino, and between it and the 
Missouri, which was found, in time, to be 
exceedingly fertile and desirable. It was 
free soil by the terms of the Missouri com- 
pact, and was also covered by Indian reserv- 
ations, not to be removed without a concur- 
rence of two-thirds of the Senate. Messrs. 
Benton and Linn, senators from Missouri, 



undertook the dinicult task of engineering 
througii (jongri'ss a i)ill including this triangle 
(large enough to form seven Counties) witliin 
the State of Missouri; which they ellicted, 
at the long Sessicju of 1835-6, .so tiuietly as 
hardly to attract attention. The bill was 
first sent to the Senate's CommitttH! on the 
Judiciary, where a favorable report was pro- 
cured from Mr. John M. Clayton, <if Del^v- 
ware, its Chairman ; and then it was floated 
through both Hou.ses without encountering 
the perils of a division. The re(iuisite Indian 
treaties were likewise carried through the 
Senate ; so Missouri became pwsessed of a 
large and desirable accession of territory, 
which has since become one of her most po- 
pulous and wealthy sections, devoted to the 
growing of hemp, tobacco, etc., and culti- 
vated by Slaves. This is the most pro-Slavery 
section of the State, in which was originated, 
and has been principally sustained, that series 
of inroads into Kansas, corruptions of her 
ballot-boxes, and outrages upon her peoj)le, 
which have earned for their authors the ap- 
pellation of Border Ruffiuns. 



X. 



THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 

The name of Texas was originally applied 
to a Spanish possession or province, lying 
between the Mississippi and the Rio (irande 
del Norte, but not extending to either of 
these great rivers. It was an a])pendage of 
the Viceroyalty of Mexico, but had very few 
civilized inlialjitants down to the time of the 
separation of Mexico from Spain. On two 
or three occasions, bands of French adven- 
turers had landed on its coa.st, or entered it 
from the adjoinina: French colony of Louisi- 
ana ; but they had uniformly been treated as 
intruders, and eitlier destroyed or made pri- 
soners by the Spanish military authorities. 
No line had ever been drawn between the 
two colonies ; but the traditional line between 
them, south of the Red River, ran somewhat 
within the limits of the present State of 
Louisiana. 

The etymology of Natchitoches, a city of 
Louisiana on the Red River, several miles 
within the present boundary of that State, 
attests its claims to a Spanish origin. 

When Louisiana was transferred by France 
to the United States, without specification 
of boundaries, collisions of claims on this 
frontier was apprehended, (ieneral Wilkin- 
son, commanding the United States troops, 
moved gradually to the west ; the Spanish 
commandant in Texas likcwi.se drew toward 
the frontii'rs. until they stood opposite each 
other across what wius then tacitly settled 
as the boundary between the two countries. 
This was never afterward disregarded. 

In 1819, Spain and the United States 
seemed on the verge of war. (General Jack- 
son had twice invaded Florida, on the assump- 



S2 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



tion of complicity on the part of her rnlers 
and people — first with our British, tlien with 
our siiviisre enemies — ^and had finally overrun, 
and, in effect, annexed it to the Union. 
Spain, on the other hand, had preyed upon 
our commerce during the long wars in 
Europe, and honestly owed our merchants 
large sums for unjustifiable seizures and 
spoliations. A negotiation for the settle- 
ment of these differences was carried on at 
Washington, between John Quincy Adams, 
Mr. Monroe's Secretary of State, and Dou 
Onis, the Spanish embassador, in the course 
of which Mr. Adams set up a claim, on the 
part of this country, to Texas as a natural 
geographical appendage not of Mexico, 
but of Louisiana. This claim, however, he 
eventually waived and relinquished, in con- 
sideration of a cession of Florida by Spain 
to this country — our government agreeing, 
on its part, to pay the claims of our mer- 
chants for spoliations. Texas remained, 
therefore, what it always had been — a de- 
partment or province of Mexico, with a 
formal quit-claim thereto on the part of the 
United States. 

The natural advantages of this region 
naturally attracted the attention of Ameri- 
can adventurers, and a small colony of 
Yankees was settled thereon, about 1819-20, 
by Moses Austin of Connecticut. Other 
settlements followed. Originally, grants of 
land in Texas were prayed for, and obtained 
of the Mexican government, on the assump- 
tion that the petitioners were Roman Catho- 
lics, persecuted in the United States, because 
of their religion, and anxious to find a refuge 
in some Catholic country. Thus all the 
early emigrants to Texas went professedly as 
Catholics, no other religion being tolerated. 

Slavery was abolished by Mexico soon 
after the consummation of her independence, 
when very few slaves were, or ever had been, 
in Texas. But, about 1834, some years after 
this event, a quiet, but very general, and, 
evidently concerted, emigration, mainly from 
Tennessee and other southwestern States, 
began to concentrate itself in Texas. The 
emigrants carried rifles ; many of them were 
accompanied by slaves ; and it was well un- 
derstood that they did not intend to become 
Mexicans, much less to relinquish their 
slaves. When Gen. Sam. Houston left 
Arkansas for Texas, in 1834-5, the Little 
Rock Journal, which announced his exodus 
and destination, significantly added : " We 
shall, doubtlesft, hear of his raising his flag 
there shortly." That was a foregone conclusion. 

Of course, the new settlers in Texas did 
not lack pretexts or provocations for such a 
step. jNlexico was then much as she is now, 
misgoverned, turbulent, anarchical, and des- 
potic. The overthrow of her Federal Con- 
stitution by Santa Anna was one reason as- 
signed for the rebellion against her authori- 
ty which broke out in Texas. In 1835, her 



independence was declared ; in 1836, at the 
decisive battle of San Jacinto, it was, by the 
rout and capture of the Mexican dictator, 
secured. This trium])h was won by emi- 
grants from this country almost exclusively ; 
scarcely half a dozen of the old Mexican in- 
habitants participating in the revolution. 
Santa Anna, while a prisoner, under restraint 
and apprehension, agreed to a peace on the 
basis of the independence of Texas — a 
covenant which he had no power, and proba- 
bly no desire, to give effect to when restored 
to liberty. The Texans, pursuing their ad- 
vantage, twice or thrice penetrated other 
Mexican provinces — Tamaulipas, Coahuiia, 
etc., and waved their Lone-Star flag in de- 
fiance, on the banks of the Rio Grande del 
Norte ; which position, however, they were 
always compelled soon to abandon — once 
with severe loss. Their government, never- 
theless, in reiterating their declaration of in- 
dependence, claimed the Rio Grande as their 
western boundary, from its source to its 
mouth, including a large share of Tamaulipas, 
Coahuiia, Durango, and by far the more im- 
portant and populous portion of New Mexi- 
co. And it was with this claim, express- 
ly set forth in the treaty, that President 
Tyler and his responsible advisers negotiated 
the first official project of annexation, which 
was submitted to the Senate, during the ses- 
sion of 1843-44, and rejected by a very de- 
cisive vote : only fifteen (mainly Southern) 
senators voting to confirm it. Col. Benton, 
and others, urged this aggressive claim of 
boundary, as affording abundant reason for 
the rejection of this treaty ; but it is not 
known that the Slavery aspect of the case 
attracted especial attention in the Senate. 
The measure, however, had already been 
publicly eulogized by Gen. James Hamilton, 
of S. C, as calculated to '• give a Gibraltar 
to the South," and had, on that ground, se- 
cured a very general and ardent popularity 
throughout the southwest. And, more than 
a year pieviously, several northern mem- 
bers of Congress had united in the fol- 
lowing : 

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE FREE STATES 
OF THE UNION. 

We. the undersigned, in closing our duties to 
our couslituents and our country as menibera of 
the 27th Congress, feel bound to call your atten- 
tion, very Ibriefly, to the projoct, long entertained 
by a portion of the people of these United States, 
still pertinaciously adhered to, and intended soon 
to be cdnsnnmiated : the annexation of Texas 
TO THIS Union. In the press of business inci- 
dent to the last, days of a session of Congress, we 
have not time, did we deem it necessary, to 
enter upon a detailed statement of the reasons 
which force upon our minds the conviction, 
that this project is i-y »o means abandoned : 
that a large portion of the country, interested 
in the continuance of Domestic Slavery and 
the Slave Trade in these United States, have 
solemnly and unalterably determined : /liat it 
shall he sprcd/l// carried info executinn ; and that, 
bv this admission of new Slave Territory and 



THE ANNEXATION OV TKXAS. 



83 



Slave Stales, the untluc n'icriKhinri/ of the Shirr- 
holilins: f)i>irrr in flir (iDicriimni/ shall be fccuitd 
anil rirr/ril hri/nml all icilcmplion ! ! 

Tliul it WHS with tlicso viows and iiifcntiona Hint 
sctlk'iiioiilH wi'n- tlViTlfil in lli<> I'loviiice, by 
citizens of llio I'liitrtl Slates, diHicultics f.iniciit 
ed with the Mexican fJovernnu'iit, a revolt 
broii^jht ahout, and an hidi'pondfMit Government 
declared, cannol now admit of a iloulit ; and that, 
hithcili), all attenii)ls of Mexico to reduce her re- 
volted jirovince to obedience, h-ivo i)roved iiii- 
BUccesslul is to be attributed to the unlawful aid 
and assistance of desi^iiinij and iiitcrc.'^tcd indi- 
viduids in the I'nited States, and the direct and 
indirect cooperation of our own Government, 
icitit similar views, is not the less certain and do- 
monstrahle. 

The o|)en niid repeated enlistment of troops in 
several .States of this Union, in aid of the 'I'exan 
Revolution, the intrusion of nn American Army, 
by order of the President, far into the Territory 
of the Mexican Government, at a nioment ciitical 
for the fate of the insur;:ents, under pretense 
of preventiiifi Mexican soldiers from fomentiufj; 
Indian disturbances, but in reality in aid of. and 
nctint; in siiijxular concert ami comcidenee with, 
the army of the Kevolutionists, the entire neglect 
of our (iovernincnt toadojit any ellicient measures 
to prevent the most unwarrantable aggressions 
of boilics of our own citizens, enlisted, organized 
aiul ollicered within our own borders, and march- 
ed in arms and battle array upon the territory, and 
against the inhabitants of a friendly government, 
in aid of freebooters and insurgents, and the pre- 
mature recognition of the Independence of Texas, 
by a snaj) vote, at the heel of a session of Con- 
gress, and that, too, at the very session w^lien 
President Jackson had. by special Message, in- 
sisted that "the measure would be contrary to 
the policy invariably observed by the United 
States in all similar cases ;'' would be marked with 
great injustice to Jlexico, and peculiarly liable to 
the darkest suspicions, inasmuch as the Tcxaiis 
were almost all vmi sera nts from the United Stales, 

AND SOUGHT THE RECOGNITION OK THEfR IM)E- 
PENDKNCE WITH THE AVOWED PURPOSE UK OD- 
TAINISG THEIR ANNEXATION TO THE U. STATES. 

These occurrences are too well known and too 
fre.sh in the memory of all, to need more than a 
passing notice. These have become matters of 
history. For further evidence upon all these and 
other important ])oints, we refer to the memorable 
siieech of .John Quincy Adams, delivered in the 
House of Representatives during the morning 
hour in June and July, 1S38. and to his address 
to his constituents, delivered at BraLutree, 17th 
September, 1842. 

The open avowal of the Texans themselves — 
the frequent and anxious negotiations of our own 
Government — the resolutions of various States of 
the Union — the numerous declarations of mem- 
bers of Congress — the tone of the Southern press 
— as well as the direct application of the Texan 
Government, make it impossible for any man to 
doubt, that ANNEXATION, and the formation of 
several new Slaveholding States, were originalli/ 
the policy and design of the Slaveholding States 
and the Executive of the Nation. 

The same references will show, very con- 
clusively, that \hc particular objects of this new 
acquisition of Slave Territory, were the per- 
petuation OF Slavery and the continued 
ASCExnANcr of the .Slave Power. 

The following extracts from a Re^iort on that 
subject, adopted by the Legislature ot Mississippi, 
from a mass of similar evidence which might oe 
be adduced, will show icilh what views the an- 
nexation was then urged. 

"But we hasten to suprgpst the importance of the 

annexation of Texiis to this Rcpuljlic upon grounds 

somewh.it local in tlieir cumploxion. but of an import 

infinitely grave and interesting to the people who in- 

3 



j lul.it the Si'uDiern portion of Hon Confi'dernc^-, where 

' it >a known tlml u >pi'ci>'B<'f donii'Htic i^iuviry in tuli- 

ratid and iiiitcctcd by Inw, wboM- exiatnice i.i pro- 

I liil.iloil hy tin- Ifgiil rt'giilntiiins of otln-r ftatoii of thie 

; Coiifeili'tary ; winoli Hystcni of ^l^^cry in held by all, 

I who are familiarly acquainted with it-i prarricil cf- 

fcclH, to he iif hif;li'ly ltn,tftcial iitdufiice lu th<: cuuntry 

uilhin irliosr lirnilg it in I'lntnilii-f to exist. 

"The CoMiniiiti-ii fi'«l authoij/.nd to say that thin 
sys't'm ia ch•-^i^hl•d by our coiiKiitucnls aa tlie very 
piilladium nj llieir pruspeiily anil Imiij.iHrSs. and wbal- 
i'\tr ignorant fanatica may clH.uh.-rf conj-cl mi. the 
Comniitt' I- are fully acsurcd, upon the iiioat diligent 
ohoervation and reflection on ib« Bii|ij.ct that ihe 
Siiuth lines y n' ;)os«e«.« irithm Iter limitn a lilesstng teith 
irliivli lliir off'clioiis of her peo le are no ctu.-ely nUieined 
and so completely ei.filired, a.ui wlioae valuo is more 
highly appreciated, than that which we are now con- 
sioering. 

»*••♦# 

" It may not be improper here to remark, tliat da- 
ring Ihe bisl si-.ssion of Ci'ngrpBS, when a Sci. aim from 
Miss'-ssippi proposed the achuowleiljjniciit of 'IVxiaa 
iijd"pcnUence, it was found, with a fiw exceptions, Me 
members of tliat body were r>-udy In tal^e ground upon 
it, lis upon the Kuliject of Slavery iisi-lf. 

" With all these facts before us. we do not hesitate 
in belii'ving iliat these feelings inllienced ihe New 
Kng'and ^eiialors. but one voting in l.v.or of ihe mea- 
sure ; anil, indeed, Mr. Webster has been b(il<l enough, 
ii> a pulilic speech recently delivered in NiwYoik, to 
many tliousand citizens, to decla'e that I Ik- reasou 
tliat iiilliienccd liis opposit on was hiH abhnrreuce to 
S^l.ivery in the South, and that it mi-ht, in the event 
wt its recognition, bi come a slaveholding State. He 
also spoke of Ihe efforts making in f.vor of Abolition; 
and that being piedi.-aied upon, and aiilei bv tin- pow- 
erlul iniiueiKo of religious feeling it would become 
irresistible and overwht-lmjiig. 

'• This langungc, coming from so distinguished an 
individual as Mr. Webster, so familiar with ihe feelings 
of the North and entertaining so hi.iha respect for 
nublic sentiment in New England, ppeaks so plainl/ 
the voiie of the Nor'h as uott<> be misunderstood. 

"We sincerely hope there is en'.ujih good sense 
and genuine love of country among our fellow-coun- 
trymen of the Northern t^tates, to sicure ns •■final ju9- 
tict on ttiis subject ; yet we cannot cmi.siderit >af« or 
I'Xpfdient for the people of the South to entirely dia- 
n-g.ird the elTorts of the fanatica, and the opinions of 
such men as Webster, and others who countenance 
such d;ingi"r(iU8 doctrines. 

" The Xvrlhern Slates have no in'cresis of tftfiir 
oxen which require anj special tafcguards for their 
defense, sav" oly their domestic niiuul'acture.s ; and 
God knows (hey have already received protection from 
Government on a most liberal scale ; under which en- 
couragement thev have improved and flourished be- 
yoDQ ixample. T lie South has very peculiar interests 
to preserve : interests already violently assailed and 
boldly ' hr.-atened. 

"Your Committee are fully persuaded that this pro- 
lection to her liest interests will lie uJfordrU liy Ihe an- 
nexnli'n of Texaa ; an equipoise if iiitlui-nce in the 
halts of Con<;ress trill be .featrf ci. irliich icillfu rnish u» 
a permment guarantee if protection.'' 

The speech of 5Ir. Adams, exposing the whole 
system of duplicity and perfidy toward Me.xico. 
had marked the conduct of our Government : and 
the emphatic expressions of ojiposition which 
began to come up from all parties in the Free 
States, however, for a time, nearl)* silenced tho 
(damors of the South for annexation, and the peo- 
ple of the North have been lulled into llu' belief, 
that the project is nearly, if not wlndly abandoned, 
and that, at least, there is now no serious danger 
of its consumination. 

Uelieving tliis to be a false and damrerons se- 
curity ; that the project has never been nban- 
donecl a moment, by its originators and abettors, 
but that it has been defen-ed for n more favorable 
nioment for its accomplishment, we refer to a few 
evidences of more recent development upon 
which this opinion is founded. 

The last Election of President of the Republic 
of Texas, is understood to have turned, mainly, 
upon the question of annexation or no annex- 
ation, and the candidate favorable to that mea- 
sure was successful by an overwhelming majority. 



34 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



The sovereign States of Alabama, Tennessee, and 
MisKissi))])!, have recently adopted Resolutions, 
some, if not all of them, unammoudy, in favor of 
annexiition, and forwarded them to Congress. 

The lion. Henry A. Wise, a member of Con- 
gress from the District in which our present 
Chief Jlagi^trate resided when elected Vice-Presi- 
dent, (111(1 who is understood to be more intimately 
acquainted with the views and designs of the pre- 
sent aciiniuistration than any other member of 
Congress, most distinctly avowed his desire for, 
and expectation of annexation, at the last session 
of Congress. Among other things, he said, iu a 
speech delivered January ^ti, 1842 : 

" Ti'ue. if Iowa be addi'd on the one side, Florida 
■will be added on Ihe other. But there the equation 
must stop. Let one more Northern St 'te be admitted, 
and the equilil'irium i.s gone — ^'one forever. The bal- 
ance of interests is gone — the sn/rguurd of Ameiicnn 
propert\— of the Aineiican Constituiion — ol the Ameri- 
can Union, v.anished into thiu air. I'/tis viust l/f. Die 
Uieviliihle result, itrtUss hy a treaty Tilh Mrxieo, tuk 

SOCTFI CAN ADD JIORE WF.IGHT TO HER END OK THE 

LEVER ! Let the. Houih stop at tiie Siibine, (the east- 
ern boundary of Texas ) while the North may (■[irend 
«nch ckfd beyond the Rocky Mountnins, AND THE 
SoUTUEilN SCALE MDST KICK THE BEAM!" 

Finding difficulties, perhaps, in the way of a ces- 
sion by Treaty, in another speech delivered in 
April, 1812, on a motion made by Mr. Linn, of 
N. y., to strike out the salary of the Minister to 
Mexico, on the ground that the design of the Ex 
ECUTivE, in making the appointment, was to ac- 
complish the annexiition of Texas, Mr. Wise said, 
" he earnestly hoped and trusted that the Presi- 
dent was as desirous (of annexation) as he was 
represented to be. We may well suppose the 
President to be iu favor of it, as every wise states- 
man must be who is not governed by fanati- 
cism, or local sectional prejudices." 
He said of Texas, that 

" While she was as a State, weak and almost pow- 
erless in resisting inva.siou. she was herself irresisti- 
ble as an invading and a conq ering power. S^he )iad 
but a sparse population, and neither men nor money 
of her own, to raise and equip an army for he- own 
defense, but let her once T>^\^e the flag of foreign con- 
quest—let her once proclaim a crusade against the 
rich States to the south of her, and in a moment 
volunteers w.)uld flock to herR'amlard in crowds./;oTO 
aU tUt States in the great vallei/ of the Mississijipi — 
men of enteiptise and valor, before whom no M,;xican 
troops could stand for an hour. They would leave 
their own towns, arm themselves, and tiavel on their 
own cost, and would come up in thousands, to plant 
the lone stir of the Texan banner on tlie Mexican 
capi'iil. They would drive Santa Anna to the Snuth. 
and th.e boundless wealth of captmed towrs, and rifled 
churches, and a lazy, vicious, and luxurious priest- 
hood, would soon enable Texas to pay her sildiery, 
and r-'deem her State debt, and pu-h her victorious 
arras to the very shores of the Pacific. And would 
not all this extend the bound.s of Slavery? Yes, the 
result would be, that before another quarter of a cen- 
tury, the extension of Slavery would not stop short of 
the' Western Ocean. We had but two alternatives be- 
fore us ; either to receive Texas into our fraternity of 
States. a>id thus make her our own. or to leave her to 
conqw-r Mexico, and become our most dangerous and 
foitniUubte rival. 

" To talk of re.'itraining the people of the great Val- 
ley from emigrating to join her armies, was all in 
vain ; and it was equally vain to calculate on their 
defeat by any Mexican forces, aided by England or not. 
They h':d gcme once already; il icas they that conquered 
Santa Anna at San Jacinto ; and three-fourths of 
them, after winning that glorious field, had peaceably 
returned to their homes But once set before them 
the conquest of the rich Mexican provinces, and you 
might a-, well attempt to stop the wind. This Govern- 
ment mtght send its troops to the frontier, to turn 
them back, and they would run over them like a herd 
of buffalo." 

" Nothing could keep these booted loafers from ru.'^h- 
ing on, till they kicked the Spanish priests out of the 
tempb'B they profaned." 

Mr. \V. proceeded to insist that a majority of the 
people of tho United fctates were in favor of the an- 



nexation ; at all events, he would risk it with the De- 
mocracy of the North. 

•• Sir " siii i Mr. W.. " i^ is not only the dnty of the 
Government to deiiiaod the liquidation ofourelairos, 
and the liben ion of our citizens, but to go further, 
and demand the non-invasion of Texas. Shall we sit 
still while the standard of insurrection is raised on 
our borders and let a horde if slaves, and Jndi ins, 
and Mexicatis rll up to the boj/ndury line of Arkansas 
ond l.i.uisaual No. It is our duty at once to say to 
Mexico. ' Ij you strike Txis you stiike us;' and if 
Engiiiiid, standing by fhonld dare to intermeddle, and 
ask, ' Do yiiu lake part uiih Texas 7' his piompt an- 
swer .'■hould be, ' \es. and anuinst you.' 

'• Such, he trould let genlley/icn Iw.to. was the spirit 
of the w ole people of the gieut valley of the West." 

Several other members of Congress, in the 
same debate, expressed similar views and desii-es, 
and they (ire still more frequently expressed iu 
conversation. 

The Hon. Tho's W. Gilmkr, a member of Con- 
gress from Virginia, and formerly a Governor of 
that State, numbered as one of the " Guard," and 
of course understood to be in the counsels of the 
Cnbinet, in a letter bearing date the lOth day of 
January last, originally designed as a private and 
confidential letter to a friend, gives it as his 
deliberate opinion, after much examination and 
reflection, that Texas will be annexed to the 
Unio-v ; and he enters into a spacious argument, 
and presents a variety of reasons in favor of the 
measure. He says, among other things : 

Washington, Jan. 10th, 1S43. 
"Dear Sir — You ask if I have expres'sed the opin- 
ion, tliat Texas would be annexed to the United 
States. I an-wer, yes ; and this opinion h.is not been 
adopted without refl> ction. or wi'hout a careful obser- 
vation of causes, which I believe are rapid y bringing 
about thi-* rei'uU. I do not know how f;ir these 
causes have mnde the same imp^es^ion on others; 
bur I am persuaded tha' the tim>'' is not distant when 
they will be felt in all their force. The exritement 
which you apprehend, may arise; but it will be tem- 
porary, and iu the end, salutary." 

He dodges the Constitutional objections as fol- 
lows : 

"I am, as you know, a strict constructionist of the 
powers of our federal Government ; and I do not ad- 
mit the force of mere precedent to establish authority 
under written constitutions. The power c-'uiferred by 
the Consiiiution over our foreign relations, and the 
repeated acquisitions of territory under it. seem to me 
to leave this question open as one of expedience." 

"But you anticipate objections with reg-Td to the 
subject o"f Slavery. Thii? is indeed a sutiject of txheme 
delicacy, but it is one on which the annexation ';/ Tex- 
as will have the moft salutary influence. Some have 
thought that the proposition would endanger our 
Union. I am of a different opinion. I believe it will 
bring about a better understanding of our relaiive 
rights and obligations." 

In conclusion, he says : 

" Having acquired Louisiana and Florida, we hare 
an interest and a frontier on the Gulf of Moxic-o. and 
along our interior to the Pacific, which will not per- 
mit us to close our eyes, or fold our aims with indif- 
ference to the events which a few years may disclose 
iu that quarter. We have already had one quesiion 
of bouedarv with Texas; oih^r questions mu-t soon 
arise, under our revenue laws, and on other points of 
necessary intercourse, which it will he diflicult to ad- 
just. The institutions of Texas, and her relations 
with other giiveinments are yet in tha' condition which 
inclines her people (who are our countryiuen.) to unite 
their destinies wuhows. This mcst b-. done soon, 
OR not at all. There are numerous tribes <jf lu'iians 
along both frontinrs, which can easily become the 
cause or the instrument of border wars. Our own 
population is pressing onward to tho Pacific. No 
power can rtstrain i'. The pioneer from our Atlantic 
seaboard will so ■■o, kii'dle his fires, and erect his cabin, 
beyond the Kocky Mountains, and on tlie Gulf of 
California. If Mahomed comes not to the moun- 
tain, the mountain will go to Mahomed. Every year 
adds new difUcultics to our progress, as natural and afi 



THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 



36 



Inevitable in the current of the MissiBnippi. Thoee 
difflculiies wi'l soon, lik^ mountains interiiosed,'— 
• • Make OMpniin" of nations, 

Wliich now. like kindred drops, 

Might niinjfle into one.' 

" Truly yonr.i. 

"THOMAS W. OTUIKR" 

The inipovonnlied contiilioii of IVxiis, licr iiiii 
bility to riiiso aiwl Kuslaiii Uoo\\f to dcA-iid luMscIt 
ngiiinst inviision for nuy lenjitli of time, mid her 
•mmi of ilmnu-ler iiiid credit iil»i-o«d, iiix; urLred u« 
reiij'ons for im.mkdiatk annk.xatio.n, iiiid the 
0|iii|ioii hiin been fieiiiieiitly expressed, by tlio.se 
wlio feel ft deep interest in this subjeet, tluit it 
would take pliiee at a vkuy eakly day in the 

NKXT SKSSUIN OF CONOKESs! 

At (lie present session, tho Resolutions of Iho 
Stale of Ahibaniii, in favor of annexation, and 
sundry petitions and remonstrances agiiinst it, 
were referred to tho Committee on Koreif,'n Rela- 
tions. A majority of tiie Cinnmittee, eonsistinj,' 
of members from "tho shiveholdin^' States, refused 
to consider and report upon tho subject, and di- 
rected Mr. Adams, llieir Chairman, to report a 
resolution, askini; to be di8eliHr}i;ed from the fur- 
ther consideration of the subject, which ho did on 
the 'J8th dav of February. At the same time, Jlr. 
Adams asked, as an individual member of the 
Committee, for leave to present the following 
rcsohitions: 

" Rpsolvcd, That by the Constitution of the United 
States, no powi-r is delegated to their Congre>s. or 
to any departiiiODt or di'parlnients of their Govern- 
ment, to affix to this Union any foreign State, or the 
people thereof. 

••Jie-uh-ed. Tnat any attempt of the Government 
of the United .'^tates. by an act of Congress, or by 
treaty, to annex 'o this Union tho Republic of Texan, 
or the people thereof, would be a violation of tho 
Constitu ion of the United States, null and void, and 
to which the Fri-e States of this Union, and their peo- 
ple, ought not to submit." 

Objections beina; made, the resolutions were not 
received ; the Southern members siiowins; a disiii- 
cUnation to have tlie subject agitated in the House 
at prcHcid. Mit,'ht it not be considered as savor- 
ing too much of a violation of private confidence, 
we could refer to various declarations of persons 
high in otlice in the national government, avow- 
ing a fixed determination to bring Texas into the 
Union, declaring that they had assurances of the 
aid of the Free Stales to accomplish the object, 
and insisting that they prefer a dissolution of tlie 
Union to the rejection of Texas, expressing, hovy- 
cver, at the same time, their confidence, that if 
ihe nnnexntion could be effected, the people of 
the Free States would submit to it, and the insti- 
tutions of the Slave States would be secured and 
perpetuated. Contenting ourselves, however, 
with the above brief glance at some of the most 
prominent evidence in relation to the subject, we 
submit to you whether the project of annexation 
seems to be abandoned, and whether there be not 
the must imminent dani^cr of its speedy necom- 
plishmeut, unless the entire mass of the people in 
the Free States become aroused to a conviction of 
this danger, and speak out, and act in reference 
to it, in a manner and with a voice not to be mis- 
vnderstood, eitlier by the people of tlie Slave 
States, or their own public servants and Repre- 
sentatives. 

Although perfectly aware that many important 
and controlling objections to annexation exist 
a.'iide from the question of Slavery, we have in 
this address confined ourselves principally to that, 
because of its paramount importance, and 
because the advocates of annexation distinctly 

place it vpon that ground most of the specious 

arguments and reasons in favor of annexation, 
witli whii'h its advocates attempt to gild the pill 
for Surthcrn pali/lrs, are just aljout as sincere and 
substantial as were those of Mr. Wise in the 



speech above referred to, in which ho labored a 
long liino to convince Northern idiilanthropiBta 
that they would best promote the olyecls liiey had 
in view", by liiv<nirig aniicxiition, thiil Ihey might 
have Slavery in Texas wilhin the power and con- 
trol of our own government, that //(/•// might 
aholish it or miti-;iitr ii s er, Is, \ii: himself being 
an advocate of perpeliial Slavery, and among tho 
very foremost to Irample iip'>n the right of pelitiou 
itself!! 

None can bo so blin<l now, as not to know that 
the real design and object of Ihe South is, (o "ADD 

NEW WklGll r To IlKlt KM) o K I II E I.K V K K." It 

was ujion liiat ground that Mr. Webster ^ilaced 
liis op])osilion, in his speech on that subject in 
New-York, in March, 1«;J7. In that spieeli, after 
staling that he saw insurmountable olijections to 
the annexation of Texas, that the pnreliiise of 
Louisiana and FUu-ida furnisiied no precedent for 
it. Unit Ihe cases were not parallel, and Ihiil no 
such jioliey or necessity as led to that, required 
the annexation of Texas, he said : 

" Gentlemen, we all see, that by whomROever pos- 
sessed, Texas i« likely t" be a slaveholding country; 
Hud I frai.kly avow my entire unwilliogneus to do any- 
thing which shall oxt-iid the Slavery of the African 
race on this continent, or add other i-laveholdiug 
States to tho Union. Wh.n 1 s.iy that I iC|4ard Sla- 
very in itself a great moral, social, and poliiical evil, 
I only use language winch has been adopt-d liy ois- 
tiuguished men. themselves citizen.s of sUveholding 
States I shall do nothing, therefore, to favor or en- 
courage its further extension," 

And again, ho said : 

" In my opinion, the people of the United States 
will not consent to bring a new, vas'ly extensive, and 
slaveholding country, large enough for half a dozen 
or a diizeirsta es. i^to the Uniou. In mv opi.nios 
TH8Y OUGHT NOT TO CONSENT TO IT. Indeed I am 
altogether at a loss lo c uceive what po^sil>le b-nefit 
any part of ihis country can expect to derive from 
such aiinesation AH benefit, to any part, is at least 
doubtful and n -ertain, the objecions obvious plain, 
and St oiig. (in the general question of Slave'V. a 
groat portion of tlie comniuniiy is already strongly 
excited. The subject has not only attiacted atten- 
tion as a question of politicn. but it has struck a 
far deeper-toned corl~it has arrested tho religious 
feeling of the country; it has taken a strong hold 
on the consciences u! men. He is a rash man. in- 
deed, and It'le conversant with human nature, and 
especixlly has he a very erroieous esticnate of the 
cb.iracer of the people of this country who sup- 
poses that a feeling of this kind is to be trilled with, 
or desjised. It will assuredly cause itself to be re- 
spected." 

In conclusion he said: 

"I see, therefore, no political necessity for the an- 
iiexat on of Texas to the Union ; no advantages to 
be deiived from it; and objections to it of a strong, 
and, inmv judgment, decisive ch*ract*r. 

•I believe it to be for the interest and happiness 
of the whole Union, to rem;iin as it is, without dimi- 
nution and without addition." 

We hold that there is not only " no nolitical ne- 
cessity" for it, " no advantages to be derived 
from it," but that there is no constitutional power 
delej;ated to any department of the national gov- 
ernment to authorize it ; that no act of Congress, 
or treaty, for annexation, can impose the least 
obligation upon the several States of this Union 
to submit to such an unwarrantable act. or t(> re- 
ceive into their family and fraternity such misbe- 
gotten and illegitimate progeny. 

We hesitate not to say, that annexation, effect- 
ed by any act or proceeding of the Federal- Gov- 
crninent, or any of its departments, would be 

IDENTICAf, WITH DISSOLUTION It WOUldbc a 

violation of our national compact, its objecfa, 
designs, and the great elementary principles 
which entered into its formation, of a character so 
deep and fuiulanientiil_aiid would be an attempt 
to eteruizo an institution and a power of a nature 



36 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



so unjust in (liemaclves, so injurious to the inter- 
ests (ind iibhorreiit to the feelings of the jjeople of 
the Free Stixtes, !is, in our opinion, not only in- 
evitably to result in ca dissolution of the Union, 
but fully to justify it ; and we not only assert that 
the people o'f the Free States " ouglil n >t to sub- 
mit to it," but we say, with confidence, they 
WOULD Not submit to it. We know their pres- 
ent temper and spirit on this sulijeet too well to 
believe for a moment that they would become 
partn-epa criminia in any such subt le contrivanee 
for the irremediable perpctxntioii oK an institu- 
tion, which the wisest and best men who formed 
our Federal Constitution, as well from the Slave 
as the Free States, regarded an an evil and a 
curse, soon to become extinct under the operation 
of laws to be passed, prohibiliufj the Slave Trade, 
and the progressive influence of the principles of 
the Revolution. 

To prevent the success of this nefarious project 

to preserve from such gross violation the Con- 

Btitution of our country, adopted expressly " to 
secure the blessings of liberty,' and not the per- 
petuation of Slavery — and to prevent the speedy 
and violent dissolution of the Union — we invite 
you to unite, without distinction of party, in an 
immediate expression of your views on this sub- 
ject, in such manner as you may deem best cal- 
culated to answer the end proposed. 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS; 
SEIH M. GATES, 
WILLI A.M .-"LAliH, 
■WILLIA.M B CALHOUN, 
JO:<HUA R. GIDDINGS, 
SHErtLOOK J. AvDllEi^S, 
NATHANIKL B. BORDEN, 
THOrf C. CHIITENDEN, 
JOHN MATrOOKS. 
CHRISTOPHER. MORGAN, 
JOtHUA M. HOVVAKD, 
VICTORY BIKD3EYE, 
UILaND HALL. 
Washington, March 3rd, 1843. 

[Note The above Address was drawn up by 

Hon. Seth M. Gates of New York, at the sugges- 
tion of John Quincy Adams, and sent to Membei-s 
of Congress at their residences, after the close of 
the session, for their signatures. Many more than 
the above approved heartily of its positions and 
objects, and would have signed it, but for its 
premature publication, through mistake. Mr. 
Winthrop of Mass. was one of these, with Gov. 
Briggs, of course : Mr. Fillmore declined signing 
it.] 

The letters of Messrs. Clay aud Van 
Buren, taking ground against annexation, 
without the consent of Mexico, as an act of 
bad faith and aggression, which would ne- 
cessarily result in war, which appeared in 
the spring of 1844, make slight allusions, if 
any, to the Slavery aspect of the case. In 
a later letter, Mr. Clay declared that he did 
not oppose annexation on account of Slave- 
ry, which he regarded as a temporary institu- 
tion, which, therefore, ought not to stand in 
the way of a ])erinancnt acquisition. And, 
though Mr. Clay's last letter on the subject, 
prior to the election of 1844, reiterated and 
emphasized all his objections to annexation 
under the existing circumstances, he did not 
include the existence of Slavery. 

The defeat of Mr. Van Buren, at the Bal- 



timore Nominating Convention— ^Mr. Polk 
being selected in his stead, by a body which 
had been supposed pledged to renominate 
the ex-President — excited considerable feel- 
ing, especially among the Democrats of New 
York. A number of their leaders united in 
a letter, termed the " Secret Circular," ad- 
vising their brethren, while they supported 
Polk and Dallas, to be careful to vote for 
candidates for Congress who would set their 
faces as a flint against annexation. Here is 
the circular : 

" Siu — You will, doubtless, agree with us, that 
the late Baltimore Convention placed the Demo- 
cratic Party, at the North, in a position of great 
ditHculty. We are constantly reminded that 
it rejected Mr. Van Buren, and nominated Mr. 
Polk, for reasons connected with the immediate 
annexation of Texas — reasons which had no rela- 
tion to the principles of the party. Nor was that 
all. The Convention went beyond the authority 
delegated to its members, and adopted a resolu- 
tion on the subject of Texas (a subject not before 
the country when they were elected, upon which, 
therefore, they were not instructed), which seeks 
to interpolate into the party creed a new doc- 
trine, hitherto unknown among us, at war with 
some of our established principles, and abhorrent 
to the opinions and feelings of a great majority 
of Northern freemen. In this position, what was 
the party at the North to do ? Was it to reject 
the nominations, and abandon the contest '.' or 
should it support the nominations, rejecting the 
untenable doctrine interpolated at the Conven- 
tion, and taking care that their support should be 
accompanied by such an expression of their opin- 
ion as to pre^iit its being misinterpreted? The 
latter alternative has been preferred, and we 
think wisely ; for we conceive that a proper ex- 
pression of their opinion will save their votes 
trom misconstruction, and that proper efforts will 
secure the nomination of such Members of Con- 
gress as will reject the unwarrantable scheme now 
pressed upon the country. 

" With these views, assuming that you feel on 
this subject as we do, we have been desired to 
address you, and invite the cooperati')n of your- 
self and other friends throughout the State : 

" 1st. — In the publication of a joint letter, de- 
claring your purpose to support the nomination, 
rejecting the resolutions respecting Texas. 

" 2nd. — In promoting and supporting at the 
next elections the nomination for Congress of 
such persons as concur in these opinions. 

" If your views in this matter coincide with 
ours, please write to some one of us, and a 
draught of the proposed letter will be forwarded 
for examination. 

" Very respectfully, 

•• GEO. P. BARKER, 
WILLIAM C. BRYANT, 
J. W. EDMONUS. 
DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, 
THI<:0D0RE SEoO'-MCK, 
THO.MAS VV. TUCKER, 
ISAAC TOWNSEiND." 

Silas "Wright, then a Senator of the 
United States, and who, as such, had opposed 
the Tyler Treaty of Annexation, was now 
run for Governor, as the only man who 
could carry the State of New Y^ork for Polk 
and Dallas. In a democratic speech at 
Skaneateles, N. Y., Mr. Wright had recently 
declared that he could never consent to An- 
nexation on any terms which would give 
Slavery an advantage over Freedom. This 



THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 



37 



sentiment was i-eiteralod and aiiiplifud in a 
a great Convention of tiie IK-niocTacy, wliioh 
met at llfikiiner, in tiie autumn of this year. 
'I'lie contest proceeded with f;reat earnest- 
ness throiiufhoiit tlie Free States, tlie sup- 
porters of i'ulk and of Hirney (the AV)oli- 
tion candidate for Tresidcnt), fully airreeiuf,' 
in tlie assertion that Mr. Clay's position was 
equally favorable to Annexation with Mr. 
Tolk's. Mr. IJirney, in a letter published 
on the eve of the Election, declared tluit he 
rei^arded Mr. Clay's election as more favor- 
able to Annexation than Mr. Polk's, because, 
while equally inclined to fortify and extend 
Slavery, he possessed more ability to influ- 
ence Congress in its favor, lie says : 

" I Imvc no reasons for opposing Mr- Clay on 
personal grounds. On tlie contrary, tlio inter- 
course we have had has been of the most friendly 
character. I oppose his election, because ho dis- 
believes the great political truths of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, the foundation of all just 
govornniont, and because he repudiates the para- 
mount objects of the Union, the pcri)etuation of 
liberty to all. On the same ground, 1 oppose the 
election of Mr. Polk. But I more deprecate the 
election of Mr. Clay— because, possessing abili- 
ties superior to Mr. Polk's, he would proportion- 
ately weaken the influence of those truths on the 
minds of our countrymen. 
"Respectfully, &c., 

''James G. Birney." 



Before this time, but as ^et withheld from, 
and unknown to, the public, Mr. Calhoun, 
now President Tyler's Beeretary of State, 
and an early and powerful advocate of An- 
nexation, had addressed to Hon. Wni. R. 
King, our Embassador at Paris, the follow- 
ing official dispatch : 

Mr. Calhoun to Mr. King. 

" Depautsient of State, 

WasUiyiglun, August 12, 1844 

" Sir — I have laid your dispatch. No. 1, before 
the President, who instructs me to make known 
to you that he has read it with much pleasure, 
especially the portion which relates to your cor- 
dial reception by the King, and his assurance of 
friendly feelings toward the United States. The 
President, in particular, highly appreciates the 
declaration of the King, that, in no event, would 
any steps be taken by his government in the 
sliglitest degree hostile, or which would give to 
tlie United States just cause of complaint. It 
was the more gratifying from the fact, that our 
previous information was calculated to make the 
impression that the government of France was 
prepared to unite with Great Britain in a joint 
protest against the annexation of Te.xas, and a 
joint effort to induce her Government to with- 
draw the proposition to annex, on condition that 
Mexico should bo mad(! to atknowHedgc her in- 
dependence. He is happy to infer from your 
disjiatch that the information, so far as it relates 
to France, is, in all probability, without founda- 
tion. You did not go further than you ought, in 
assuring the King that the object of Annexation 
would be pursued with unabated vigor, and in 
giving your opinion that a decided majority of 
tiie American people were in its favor, and that 
it woukl certainly be annexed at no distant day. 
I feel confident that your anticipation will be 
fully realized at no distant period. 



" Kvcry day will (end to weaken that couibi- 
nation of |)oliiiciil rauscH which led to the opposi- 
tion of the nirasnre, and to slrengtbrh the 
conviction that it wan not only exi>edient, but 
juft /ind necessary. 

"You were right in making the distiiu^tion be- 
tween the iiilercsts of France and Ivigland in 
reference to Texas— or rallur, I hlionid say, the 
apparent interests of the two roimlries. trance 
I'annot jHissibly have any other than connncrcinl 
interests in desiring to see her pri-serv.- her Hi'iia- 
rale independenc<', wliileit is certain that Kngland 
lo<d<s beyond, to p(dilical interests, to whidi nhe 
apparently attaches nuicii iin|)nrlaiice. But, in 
our opinion, the inlercst of both against the mea- 
sure is more ajjparcnt than real ; and that neither 
France, lMiglan<l, ma- even Mexico hersult, lias 
any in opposition to it, when the snbjei't is fairly 
viewed and considered in its whole extent, and 
in all its bearings. Thus viewed and coiiBidcrcd, 
and assuming tliat peace, the extension of com- 
merce, and security, are objects of primary policy 
with tlieni, it may, as it seems to me, be readily 
shown that the jjolicj' on the part of those powein 
whicii would acijuiesce in a measure so strongly 
desired by both the United States and Texas, for 
their mutual welfare and safety, as tlie annex.-ilion 
of the latter to the former, would be far more 
promotive of these great objects than that which 
would attempt to resist it. 

" It is im|]ossible to cast a look at the map of 
the United Stales and Texas, and to note the long, 
artifieial and inconvenient line whicli divides 
them, and to take into consideration the exlraor- 
dinary increase of population and growth of 
the former, and the source from which the latter 
must derive its inhabitants, institutions, and 
laws, without coming to the conclusion that it ia 
their destiny to be united, and of course, that 
.Annexation is merely a question of time and 
mode. Thus I'egarded, the question to be decided 
would seem to be, whether it would not be better 
to permit it to be done now, with the mutuid con- 
sent of both parties, and the acquiescence of 
these powers, than to attempt to resist and defeat 
it. 

" If the former course be adopted, the certain 
fruits would bo the preservation of peace, great 
extension of commerce by the rapid settlement 
and improvement of Texas, and inert ased secu- 
rity, especially to Mexico. The last, in reference 
to Mexico, may be doubted ; but I hold it not 
less clear than the other two. 

" It would be a great mistake to suppose that 
this Government has any hostile feelings toward 
Mexico, or any disposition to aggrandize itself at 
her expense. The fact is the very reverse. 

" It wishes her well, and desires to see her set- 
tled down in peace and security ; and is prepared, 
in the event of the Annexation of Texas, if not 
forced into conflict with her, to propose to settle 
with her the question of boundary, and all oIIkiu 
growing out of the Annexation, on the most libe- 
ral terms. Nature herself has clearly marked 
the boundary between her and Texas by natural 
limits, too strong to be mistaken. Tliere are few 
countries whoso limits are so distinctly marked ; 
and it would be our desire, if Texas should be 
united to us, to see them firmly established, as 
the most certain means of establishing permanent 
peace between the two countries, and slrenglhen- 
ing and cementing tlieir friendsiiip. Such would 
be the certain coiisc(iuence of permitling the An- 
nexation to take place now, wilii the acquiescence 
ofJIexico; but very ditferent would be the case 
if it should be atteniiited to resist and defeat it, 
whether the attempt should be successful for the 
present or not. Any attempt of the kind would. 
not improbably, lead to a conflic't between us and 
Mexico, and invtdvo consequences, in reference 
to her and the general peace, long to be deplored 



38 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



on both sides, nnd difficult to be repaired. But, 
Bliould that not be the case, and the interference 
of another poiver defeat the Annexation for tlie 
present, without the interruption of peace, it 
would but postpone the conflict, and render it 
more tierce and bloody whenever it might occur. 

" Its defeat would be attributed to emnity and 
ambition on the part of that power by whose in- 
terference it was occasioned, and excite deep jeal- 
ousy and resentment on the part of our people, 
■who would be ready to seize the first favorable 
opportunity to effect by force what was prevent- 
ed from being done peaceably by mutual con- 
sent. It is not diflicult to see how greatly such a 
conflict, como when it might, would endanger 
the general peace, and how much Mexico might 
be the loser oy it. 

" In the mean time, the condition of Texas 
would be rendered uncertain, her settlem.ent and 
prosperity in consequence retarded, and her com- 
merce crippled ; while the general peace would 
be rendered much more insecure. It could not 
but greatly atfect us. If the Annexation of Texas 
should be permitted to take place peaceably 
now, (as it would, without the interference of 
other powers,) the energies of our people would, 
for a long time to come, be directed to the peace- 
able pursuits of redeeming and bringing within 
the pale of cultivation, improvement, and civil- 
ization, that large portion of the continent lying 
between Mexico on one side and the British 
possessions on the other, which is now, with lit- 
tle excei)tiou, a wilderness, with a sparse popula- 
tion, consisting, for the most part, of wandering 
Indian tribes. 

" It is our destiny to occupy that vast region ; 
to intersect it with roads and canals ; to fill it with 
cities, towns, villages, and farms ; to extend over 
it our religion, customs, constitution, and laws, 
and to present it as a peaceful and splendid addi- 
tion to the domains of commerce and civilization. 
It is our policy to increase by growing and 
spreading out into unoccupied regions, assimilat- 
ing all we incorporate : in a word, to increase by 
accretion, and not through conquest, by the addi- 
tion of masses held together by the adhesion of 
force- 

" No system can be move unsuited to the lat- 
ter process, or better adapted to the former, than 
our admirable federal system. If it should not 
be resisted in its course, it will probably fulfill its 
destiny without disturbing our neighbors, or 
putting in jeopardy the general peace ; but if it 
be opposed by foreign interference, a new direc 
tion would be given to our energy, much less 
favorable to harmony with our neighbors, and to 
the general peace of the world. 

" The change would be undesirable to us, and 
much loss in accordance with what I have as- 
sumed to be primary objects of policy on the 
part of France, England, and Mexico. 

'• But, to descend to particulars : it is certain 
that while England, like France, desires the in- 
dependence of Texas, with the view to commer- 
cial connections, it is not less so that, one of the 
leading motives of England for desiring it, is the 
hope that, through her diplomacy and influence, 
Kegro Slavery inay be abolished there, and ulti- 
mately, by consequence, in the United iStates and 
throughout the whole of this continent. That 
its ultimate abolition throughout the entire conti- 
nent is an object ardently desired by her, we 
have decisive proofs in the declaration of the 
Earl of Aberdeen, ddivered to this Department, 
and of which you will find a copy among the 
dottuments transmitted to Congress with the 
Texan treaty. That she desires its abolition in 
Texas, and has used her influence and diplomacy 
to effect it there, the sinne document, with the 
correspondence of this Department with Mr. 
Puckenham, also to bo found among the docu- 



ments, furnishes proof not less conclusive. That 
one of the objects of abolishing it there is to fa- 
cilitate its abolition in the United States, and 
throughout the continent, is manifest from the 
declaration of the Abolition party and societies 
both in this country and in England. In faet, 
there is good reason to believe that the scheme 
of abolishing it in Texas, with a view to its abo- 
lition in tiie United States, and over the conti- 
nent, originated with the prominent members of 
the party in the United States ; and was firet 
broached by them in the (so called) World's Con- 
vention, held in London in the year 1840, and 
through its agency brought to the notice of the 
British Government. 

" Now, I hold, not only that France can 
have no interest in the consummation of this 
grand scheme, which England hopes to accom- 
plish through Texas, if she can defeat the Annex- 
ation, but that her interests, and those of all the 
Continental powers of Europe are directly and 
deeply opposed to it. 

" It is too late in the day to contend that hn- 
manity or philanthropy is the great object of the 
policy of England in attempting to abolish Afri- 
can Slavery on this Continent. I do not question 
but humanity may have had a considerable 
influence in abolishing Slavery in her West India 
possessions, aided, indeed, by the fallacious cal- 
culation that the labor of the Negroes would be 
at least as profitable, if not more so, in conse- 
quence of the measure. She acted on the princi- 
ple that tropical products can be produced 
cheaper by free African labor and East India 
labor, than by slave labor. She knew full well 
the value of such products to her commerce, navi- 
gation, navy, manufacturers, revenue, and pow- 
er. She was not ignorant that the support and 
maintenance of her political preponderance de- 
pended on her tropical possessions, and had 
no intention of diminishing their productiveness, 
nor any anticipation that such would be the ef- 
fect, when the scheme of abolishing Slavery in 
her colonial possessions was adopted. On the 
contrary, she calculated to combine philanthro- 
py with profit and power, as is not unusual with 
fanaticism. .Experience has convinced her of 
the fallacy of her calculations. She has failed in 
all her objects. The labor of her Negroes has 
proved far less productive, without aflording the 
consolation of having improved their condition. 

" The experiment has turned out to be a costly 
one. She expended nearly one hundred millions 
of dollars in indemnifying the owners of the eman- 
cipated Slaves. It is estnnated that the increased 
piice paid since, by the people of Great Britain, 
for sugar and other tropical productions, in con- 
sequence of the measure, is equal to half that 
sum ; and that twice that amount has been ex- 
pended in the suppression of the Slave-trade ; 
makmg together two hundred and fifty millions 
of dollars as the cost of the expermient. Instead 
of realizing her hope, the result has been a sad 
disappointment. Her tropical product.s have 
fallen off to a vast amount. Instead of supplying 
her own wants, and those of nearly all Europe 
with them, as formerly, she has now, in some of 
the most important ai'ticles, scarcely enough to 
supply her own. What is worse, her own colo- 
nies are actually consuming sugar produced by 
Slave-labor, brought direct to England, or refined 
in bond, and exported and sold in her colonies as 
cheap, or cheaper, than can be produced there ; 
while the Slave-trade, instead of diminishing, has 
been in fact carried on to a greater extent than 
ever. So disastrous has been the result, that her 
fixed capital invested in tropical possessions, esti- 
mated at the value of nearly five hundred mil- 
lions of dollars, is said to stand on the brink of 
ruin. 

" But this is not the worst; while this costly 



TUE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 



39 



Bchcmo lidR linil siuli rulnons cffcclfl on tlio tiopi- i 
ciil productions of (irciit Britiiiii, it lias jjivoii a 
jiowerl'ul ctiimiliis, ti.llowi-d by ii foneHijoiidiiiK 
iiicreuBc of iiiodiK-ts, to tlioMO coiiiitiics which Imd 
hud tho good 8CI180 to hIiiui her example. Thcro 
has been vested, it has been eMtinmted by them, 
in the production of tropical jiroducts, since 18IIH, 
in iixed capital, nearly JI,IM)U.(l()(l,0()t), wholly de- 
pciidcut 0,1 Shive labor. In the sumc period, the 
value of their products ha.s been eslimuted to 
have risen from about $7:J.(10(),(l(tO, nnnually, to 
nearly ljCJ-JU,()ltO,tll)0 ; while tho whido of the li.\ed 
capital of Great Britain, vested in cultivating 
tropical products, both in tho East and West 
Indies, is estimated nt only about $S30,00(),()()l), 
and the value of tho produl'ts annually at about 
$.jl),()0(),OU(). To present a still more striking view 
of three articles of tropical jjroducts (sugar, coffee, 
and (.'otlon), tho British possessions, including the 
East and West Indies, and Mauritius, nroduced 
in 184"J, of sugar, only H,'j;i:{,771 pounds; while 
Cuba, Brazil, and the United States, excluding 
other countries having tri>pical pos.sessions, pro- 
duced 9,000,000 pounds; of coffee, tho British 
possessions produced oidy 'J7 ,31)3,003 pounds, 
while Cuba and Brazil produced 201,.')'.l0,l:>j 
pounds; and of cotton, the ]$rilish possessions, 
including shipments to China, only 137,1 13, 4J() 
pounds, while the United States alone produced 
790,47!l,27.5 pounds. 

" The above facts and estimate have all been 
drawn from a British periodical of high standing 
and authority," and are believed to be entitled to 
credit. 

" Tho vast increase of the capital and produc- 
tion on the part of those nations, who have con- 
tinued their former policy toward the negro race, 
compared with that of (J rent Britain, indicates a 
corresponding relative increase of tho means of 
connnerce, navigation, manufactures, wealth, 
and power. It is no longer a question of doubt, 
that the great source of wealth, prosperity, and 
power of moj"e civilized nations of the tem- 
perate zone fespecially Europe, where tho arts 
have made the greatest advance), depends, in a 
great degree, on the exchange of then- products 
with those of the tropical regions. So great has 
been the advance made in the arts, both chemical 
and mechanical, within the few last generations, 
that all the old civilized nations can, with but a 
small part of their labor and capital, supply their 
respective wants ; which tends to limit, within 
narrow bounds, the amount of the commerce be- 
tween them, and forces them all to seek for mar- 
kets in the tropical regions, and the more'newly- 
settled portions of tho globe. Those who can 
best succeed in commauding those markets, have 
the least prospect of outstripping the others in the 
career of connnerce, navigation, manufactures, 
wealth, and power. 

This is seen and felt by British statesmen, and 
has opened their eyes to tho errors which they 
have connnitted. The question now with them 
is, how shall it be counteracted ? What has been 
done cannot bo undone. The question is, by 
what means can Great Britain regain and keep a 
superiority in tropical cultivation, commerce, and 
innuenee? Or. shall that be abandoned, and 
other nations be suffered to acquire the supremacy, 
even to the extent of supplymg British markets, 
to the destruction of the capital already vested in 
tlieir produ(!tion ? These are the questions which 
now protbundly occupy the attention of her states- 
men, and have the greatest influence over her 
councils. 

" In order to regain her superiority, she not only 
Bceks to revive and increase her own capacity to 
produce tropical productions, but to diminish and 
destroy the capacity of those who have so far out- 



* Blackwood's Magazine for June, 1841. 



strippeil her in consequence of her error. In pur- 
suit of the former, she has ca.st her eyes to her 
East India possessions — to Central and E'lstern 
Africa — with tho view of establishing <'olonie8 
there, ami even to restore, substantially, the Slave- 
trade itself, under the specious name of tran.sport- 
ing her free lulMirers from Africa to her West 
India possessions, in order, if possible, to conipelo 
successfully with those wlio have refused lo follow 
her suicidal policy. But these all afford but un- 
certain and distant hopes of recovering her lost 
superiority. Jler main relianct' is on the other 
alternative — to cripple or destroy the productions 
other successful rivals. There is but one way by 
which it can be done, and that is by abolishing 
African Slavery throughout tiiis continent ; and 
that she opeidy avows to be the constant object 
of her policy and exertions. It matters not how, 
or from what motive, it may be done — whether it 
be by diplomacy, influence, or force ; by secret or 
open means; and whether the motive be humane 
or selfish, without regard to manner, means, or 
motive. The thing itself, should it be accoiu- 
])lished, would put down all rivalry, and give her 
the undis])uted supremacy in supjilyiiig her own 
wants, and those of the rest of the world ; and 
thereby more than fully retrieve what shi' lost by 
her errors. It would give her the monopoly of 
tropical productions, which I shall next proceed 
to show. 

" What would be the consequence if tliis object 
of her unceasing solicitude and exertions should 
be effected by the abolition of Negro Slavery 
throughout this continent, some idea may bo 
formed from the immense diminution of i)ioduc- 
tions, as has been shown, which has followed 
abolition in her West India possessions. But, as 
great as that has been, it is nothing compared 
with what would be the effect, if she should suc- 
ceed in al>olishing Slavery in the United States, 
Cuba, Brazil, and throughout this continent. The 
experiment in her own colonies was made under 
the most favorable circumstances. It was brought 
about gradually and peaceably by the steady and 
linn ojieration of the parent country, armed with 
eoinpkte power to prevent or crush at once all 
insurrectionary movements on the part of the 
negroes, and able and disposed to maintain to the 
full, the political and social a.scendancy of the 
former Masters over their former Slaves. It is not 
at all wonderful that the change of the relations 
of Master and Slave took place, under such cir- 
cumstances, without violence and bloodshed, and 
that order and peace should have been since pre- 
served. Very different would be the result of 
abolition, should it be effected by her intluenee 
and exertions in the possessions ot other countries 
on this continent — and especially in the United 
States, Cuba, and Brazil, the great cultivators of 
the principal tropical products of America. To 
form a correct conception of what would be tho 
result with them, we must look, not to J.imaica, 
but to St. Domingo, for example. The change 
would be followed by unforgiving hate between 
the two races, and end in a bloody and deadly 
struggle between them for the sunerioriiy. One 
or the other would have to bo subjug.'ited, extir- 
pated, or expelled ; and desolation would over- 
spread their territories, as in St. Domingo, from 
which it would lake centuries to recover. The 
end would be, that tho superiority in cultivating 
tho great tropical staples would be transteiTcu 
from them to the Britisli tropical possessions. 

" Tliey are of vast extent, and those beyond tho 
Cape of Good Hoi)e, possessed of an unlimited 
amount of labor, standing ready, by tho aid of 
British capital, to supply the deficit which 
would be occasioned by destroying the tropical 
productions of tho United States, Cuba, Brazil, 
and other countries cultivated by Slave-labor 
on this continent, as soon as the increased prices, 
iu couscqucnce, would yield a profit. It ia the 



40 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



Buccessful competition of that Inbor which keeps 
the prices of the groat tropica! staples so low as 
to prevent their cultivation with profit in the 
possessions of Great Britain, by what she is 
pleased to call free-labor. 

" If she can destroy its competition, she would 
have a monopoly of these productions. She has 
all the means of "furnishing an unlimited supply 

vast and fertile possessions in both Indies, 

boundless command of capital and labor, and 
ample power to sui)press disturbances and pre- 
serve order throughout her wide domain. 

'• It i.s unquestionable that she regards the 
abolition of Slavery in Texas as a most import- 
ant step toward this great object of policy, so 
much the aim of her solicitude and exertions ; 
and the defeat of the Annexation of Texas to our 
Union as indispensable to the abolition of Sla- 
very there. She is too sagacious not to see what 
a fatal blow it would give to Slavery in the 
United States, and how certainly its abolition 
■with us will abolish it over the whole continent, 
and thereby give her a monopoly in the produc- 
tions of the great tropical staples, and the com- 
mand of the commerce, navigation, and manu 
factures of the world, with an established naval 
ascendancy and political preponderance. To 
this continent, the blow would be calamitous be- 
yond description. It would destroy, in a great 
measure, the cultivation and productions of the 
great tropical .s(a])les, amounting annually in 
value to nearly .•?:iOli, 0(10, 000, the fund which 
stimulates and upholds almost every other branch 
of its industry, commerce, navigation, and manu- 
factures. The whole, by their joint influence, are 
rapidly spreading population, wealth, improve- 
ment and civilization over the whole continent, 
and vivifying, by their overflow, the industry of 
Europe, thereby increasing its population, wealth, 
and advancement hi the arts, in power, and in 
civilization. 

" Such must be the result, should Great Britain 
succeed in accomplishing the constant object of 
her desire and exertions— the abolition of Negro 
Slavery over this continent— and towards the ef- 
fecting of which she regards the defeat of the 
Annexation of Texas to our Union so important. 

" ('unit be possible that governments so en- 
lightened and sagacious as those of France and 
the other great continental powers, can be so 
blinded by the plea of philanthropy as not to see 
what must inevitably follow, be her motive what 
it may, siiould she succeed in her object ? It is 
little short of mockery to talk of philanthropy, 
with the example before us of the effects of abol- 
ishing Negro Slavery in her own colonies, in St. 
Domingo, and in the Northern States of our 
Uuion.'where statistical facts, not to be shaken, 
prove that the free Negro, after the experience of 
sixty years, is in a far worse condition than in the 
other'States, where he has been left in his former 
condition. No : the effect of what is called abo- 
lition, where the number is few, is not to raise 
the inferior race to the condition of freemen, but 
to deprive the Negro of the guardian care of his 
owner, subject to all the depression and oppres- 
sion belonging to his inferior condition. But, on 
the other hand, where the number is great, and 
bears a large proportion to the whole population, 
it would be still worse. It would be to substitute 
for the existing relation a deadly strife between 
the two races, to end in the subjection, expulsion, 
or extirpation of one or the other; and such 
would be the case over the greater part of this 
continent where Negro Slavery exists. It would 
not end there ; but would, in all probability, ex- 
tend, by its example, the war of races over all 
South America, including Mexico, and extending 
to the Indian as well us the African race, and 
make the whole one scene of blood and devasta- 
tion. 



"Dismissing, then, the stale and unfounded plea 
of philanthropy, can it be that France and the 
other great continental powers — seeing what must 
be the result of the policy, for the accomplish- 
ment of which England is constantly exerting 
herself, and that the defeat of the Annexation of 
Texas is so important towards its consummation 
—arc prepared to back or countenance her in her 
eflorts to produce either ? What possible motives 
can they have to favor her cherished policy ? Is 
it not better for them that they should be sup- 
plied with tropical products in exchange for 
their labor from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, 
and this continent generally, than to be depend- 
ent on one great monopolizing power for their 
supply ? Is it not better that they should receive 
them at the low prices which competition, cheap- 
er means of production, and nearness of market, 
would furnish them by the former, than to give 
the high prices which monopoly, dear labor, and 
great distance from market, would impose ? Is 
it not better that their labor should be exchanged 
with a new continent, rapidly increasing in popu- 
lation and capacity for consuming, and which 
would furnish, in the course of a few genera- 
tions, a market nearer to them, and almost of 
unlimited extent, for the products of their indus- 
try and arts, than with old and distant regions, 
whose population has long since reached its 
growth 1 

" The above contains those enlarged views of 
policy which, it seems to me, an enlightened Eu- 
ropean statesman ought to take, in making up 
his opinion on the subject of the Annexation of 
Texas, and the grounds, as it may be inferred, 
on which England vainly opposes it. They cer- 
tainly involve considerations of the deepest im- 
portance, and demanding the greatest attention. 
Viewed in connection with them, the question of 
Annexation becomes one of the first magnitude, 
not only to Texas and the United States, but to 
this continent and Europe. They are presented, 
that you may use them on all suitable occasions 
where you think they may be with effect, in your 
correspondence, where it can be done with pro- 
priety or otherwise. The President relies with 
confidence on your sagacity, prudence, and zeal. 
Your mission is one of the first magnitude at all 
times, but especially now ; and he feels assured 
that nothing will be left undone on your part to 
do justice to the country and the Government in 
reference to this measure. 

" I have said nothing as to our right of treaty 
with Texas, without consulting Mexico. You so 
fully understand the grounds on which we rest 
our right, and are so familiar with all the facts 
necessary to maintain them, that it was thought 
unnecessary to add anything in reference to it. 
"lam, Sir, very respectfully, 

" Your obedient Servant, 

"J. C CALHOUN." 
"William R. King, Esq., &c., &c." 

The election of James K. Polk as Presi- 
dent, and George M. Dallas as Vice-Presi- 
dent, (Nov. 184-1) having virtually settled, 
affirmativel)', the question of annexing Tex- 
as, the XXVIlIth Congress commenced 
its second session at Washington on the 2nd 
of December, 1844— Mr. John Tyler being 
still acting President up to the end of the Con- 
gress, March 4th following. 

Dec. 19. Mr. John B. Weller, (then mem- 
ber from Ohio, now Senator from California) 
by leave, introduced a joint resolution, No. 
51, providing for the annexation of Texas to 
the United States, which he moved to the 
Committee of the AVhole. 



THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 



41 



Mr. E. S. ITamliii of Ohio niovetl a re- 
ference of said resolve to a rointnittee of 
one from eaeli State, with iiistriictions to re- 
port to the House, 

" laf. Wlietlier Conprces hn« nny coiistitulional 
powiM" to iiiiiR-x i\ J'orti'^n, iiKli'pi'iidciit iHitioii lo 
this (Jovciimii'iit ;" niid if so, l)}' wlmt article niul 
sct-tioii ot'lhf t'oiistitutioii it is fonfuned ; wlietli 
er it is (iiiioii); tlio powciK exjjrfssly grunted, or 
nniou)^ tlio.so wliicli arc implird ; wliotlier it iH ne- 
cessary to carry into efTect uny expressly -gran ted 
power; and if so, which one. 

" '2il. Whether annexation of Texas would not 
extend and perjjetiiate Slavery in the Slave States, 
and also, the niternal slave-trade ; and whether 
the United Slates (tovernnieiit has any constitu- 
tional power over Slavery in the. Stales, either to 
pcr|)etuate it there, or to <lu it airni/. 

" '.id. Whether the United Stales, havinj^ no- 
kniiwledijtvt the iinlei>endenee of Texas, Mexico 
is thereby deprived of her right to recouquer that 
province. 

'• 4///. That they report whether Texas i8 owing 
any debts or not ; and, if she is, what is tlie 
amount, and to whom payable: and whetlicr, if 
she should be annexed to tlie United States, the 
United States Govonimeut would bo bound to 
pay them nil. 

'• 5/h. That they report what treaties are in ex- 
istence between Texas and foreign governments ; 
and,if she should bo anne.\e(l to the United States, 
whether the United Stales Government would be 
bound, by tho law of nations, to fulfill those 
treaties." 

The question on commitment was insisted 
upon, and first taken — Yeas, 109 (Demo- 
crats) ; Najs, 01 (Whigs) ; whereupon it was 
held that Mr. Hamlin's amendment was de- 
feated, and the original proposition alone 
committed. 

./<//(. lOlh. 1845. Mr. John P. Hale, N. 
H., (then a Democratic Repre.sentative, now 
a Republican Senator) proposed the follow- 
ing as an amendment to any act or resolve 
contemplating the annexation of Texas to 
this Union : 

" Proriih'd, That immediately after the ques- 
tion of boundary between the United States of 
America and Mexico shall have been detinitivcly 
settled by the two governments, and before any 
State formed out of the ten-itory of Texas shall be 
admitted into the Union, the said territory ofTexas 
ehall be divided as follows, to wit : beginning at 
a point on tlie Gulf of Mexico, midway between 
the Northern and Southern boundaries thereof on 
the coast ; and thence by a line running in a 
northwesterly direction to the extreme boundary 
thereof, so as to divide the same a.s nearly as pos- 
sible into two equal parts, and in that portion of 
said territory lying south and west of the line to bo 
run ns aforesaid, there shall be neither Slavery 
nor involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the 
punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted. 

''And proBtded further. That this provision 
shall be considered a.s a compact between the peo- 
ple of the United States and the peo{)le of the 
said territory, and forever remain unalterable, 
unless by the consent of three-fourths of the States 
of the Union." 

Mr. Hale asjced a suspension of the rules, 
to enable him to offer it now, and have it 
printed and committed. Refused— Yeas, 92, 
(not two-tiiirds ;) Nays, 81. 



I'm.s- — All till! Wliig.'^ and most of tho 
Democrats from the Krec States, witii Messrs. 
Duncan L. Clinch and Alex. H. Stephens 
of (ieorgia, andd'eo. W. Siimniirs of Va. 

A'a//.s--All the memlx-rs from Slave 
States, except the above, with the following 
from Free Slates : 

Maine.— Shejipard Cary— 1. 

Nk\v-!Ia.mi>shikk.— Edmund Burke, Mose8 
Norris, jr — 1!. 

Nkw-Yokk.— James G. Clinton, Sclah B. 
Strong— 2. 

PKN.NsYr.vANiA.— James Black, l{i(-hard Brod- 
head, Hemy D. Poster, Joseph li. Ingersoll, 
Michael H.Jenks— 5. ^ 

Ohio.— Joscjih J. McDowell— 1. 

l.HDiANA.— William J. Brown, John W. Davis, 
John Pettil— 3. 

Ii.r.iNois.— Orlando B. Ficklin, Joseph P. 
Iloge, Robert Smith— 3. 

Total Democrats from Free States, 17. 

Dec. 12th.— Mv. C. J. Ingersoll of Pa., 
from the Conunittee on Foreign Affairs, re- 
ported a Joint Resolution for annexing 
Texas to the Union, which was committed 
and discussed in Committee of the Whole 
from time to time, through the next 
month. 

Jan. 1(h. — Mr. J. P. Hale presented re- 
solves of the Legislature of New 1 lampshire, 
thoroughly in favor of Annexation, and 
silent on the subject of Slavery, except as 
follows : 

"Hesohed, That we agree with i\rr. Clay, that 
the re-annexation of Texas will add more Free 
than Slave States to the Union; and that it would 
be unwise to refuse a permanent acquisition, 
which will e.xist as long as the globe remains, 
on account of a temporary institution." 

Jan. I3th. — Mr. Cave Johnson of Tenn. 
moved that all further debate on this sub- 
ject be closed at 2 p. m. on Tlmrsday next. 
Carried— Yeas, 126 ; Nays, 57 ; (nearly all 
the Nays from Slave States). 

Jan. 25th. — The debate, after an exten- 
sion of time, was at length brought to a 
close, and the Joint Resolution taken out of 
Committee, and reported to the House in the 
following form ; (that portion relating to 
Slavery, having been added in Committee, 
on motion of Mr. Milton Brown (Whig) of 
Tennessee : 

" Resolved, by the Senate and House of Rep. 
reserUa lives in Congress assembled. That Con- 
gress doth consent that the Territory properly 
included witliin, and rightfully belonging to, the 
Republic of Texas, may bo erected into a now 
State, to bo called tho State of Texas, witli a 
republican form ot government, to bo adopted 
by tho people of said republic, by deputies in 
convention assembled, with tlio consent of the 
existing government, in order that the same may 
be adniilted as one of the States of this Union. 

" 'J. And be it further resolved. That the fore- 
going consent of Congress is given upon the fol- 
lowing conditions, and with the following guaran- 
tees, to wit : 

" First. Said State to be formed, subject to the 
adjustment by this Government of all questions 
of boundary that may arise with other govern- 



42 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



ments ; and the Constitution thereof, with the | 
proper evidence of its adoption by the people of 
Baid Republic of Texas, shall be transmitted to 
the President of tlie United States, to be laid 
before Congress for its final action, on or before 
the Ist day of January, 1846. 

" Second. Said State, when admitted into the 
Union, after cedinf^ to the United States all pub 
lie edifices, fortifieations, barracks, ports, and 
harbors, navy and navy-yards, docks, magazines, 
arms, armaments, and all other property and 
means pertaining to the public defense, belong- 
ing to the said Republic of Texas, shall retain 
all the public funds, debts, taxes, and dues of 
every kind which may belong to, or be due 
or owing said republic; and shall also retain 
all the vacant and unappropriated lands lying 
within its limits, to be applied to the payment 
of the debts and liabilities of said Republic of 
Texas ; and the residue of said lands, after dis- 
charging said debts and liabilities, to be disposed 
of as said State may direct ; but in no event 
are said debts and liabilities to become a charge 
upon the United States. 

"Third. New States of convenient size, not 
exceeding four in number, in addition to said 
State of Texas, and having sufficient population, 
may hereafter, by the consent of said State, be 
formed out of the Territory thereof, which shall 
be entitled to admission under the provisions of 
the Federal Constitution. And such States as 
may be formed out of that portion of said Terri- 
tory, lying south of thirty-six degrees thirty 
minutes north latitude, commonly known as the 
Missouri Compromise line, shall be admitted into 
the Union, with or without Slavery, as the people 
of each State asking admission may desire ; and 
in such State or States as shall be formed out of 
said Territory, north of said Missouri Compro- 
mise line, Slavery or involuntary servitude (ex- 
cept for crime) shall be prohibited." 

Mr. Cave Johnson of Tenn. moved the 
previous question, which the House seconded 
—Yeas 113 ; Nays 106— and then the 
amendment aforesaid was agreed to — Yeas 
118 ; Nays 101, 

Yeas, 114 Democrats, and Messrs. Milton 
Brown of Tenn., James Dellet of Ala., and 
Duncan L. Clinch and Alex. H. Stephens 
of Ga. (4), Southern Whigs. 

Nays, all the Whigs present from Free 
States, with all from Slave States, but the 
four just named ; with the following Demo- 
crats from Free States : 

Maine Robert P. Dunlap, Hannibal Hamliu 

_2. 

Vermont Paul Dillingham, jr. — 1. 

Nkw-IIampshire. — John P. Hale — 1. 

Connecticut. — George S. Catlin — 1. 

New-York. — Joseph II. Anderson, Charles S. 
Benton, Jeremiah E. Carey, Amasa Dana, Rich- 
ard D. Davis, Byram Green, Preston King, 
Smith M. Purdy, George Rathbun, Orville Rob- 
inson, David L. Seymour, Lemuel Stetson — 12. 

Ohio. — Jacob Brinckerhoff, William C. Mc- 
Causlen. Joseph Morris, Henry St. John — 4. 

Michigan. — James B. Hunt, Robert McClel- 
land— 2. 

Total Democrats from Free States, 23, 
" Whigs from Free and Slave 

States, , 78. 

The House then ordered the whole propo- 
sition to a third reading forthwith — Y''eas 
120 ; Nays 97 — and passed it by Yeas 120 ; 
Nays 98. 



Yens, all the Democrats from Slave States, 
and all the Democrats from Free States, ex- 
cept as below ; with Messrs. Duncan L. 
Clinch, Milton Brown, James Dellet, Wil- 
loughby Newton, of Va. (who therefrom 
turned Democrat), and Alex. H. Stephens 
of Ga. (now Democrat), from Slave States. 

Nays, all the Whigs from Free States ; 
all those from Slave States except as above ; 
with the following Democrats from Free 
States, viz. : 

Maine. — Hannibal Hamlin — 1. 

New-Hampshiue. — John P. Hale, John E. 
Reding— '2. 

Vermont. — Paul Dillingham, jr. — 1. 

Connecticut. — George S. Catlin — 1. 

New-York.. .Joseph H. Anderson, Charles S. 
Benton, Levi D. Carpenter. Jeremiah E. Carey, 
Amasa Dana, Richard D. Davis, Byram Green, 
Preston King, Smith M. Purdy, George Rathbun, 
Lemuel Stetson, Horace Wheaton, David L. 
Seymour — 14. 

Ohio. — Henry St. John — 1. 

Michigan James B. Hunt, Robert McClel- 
land— 2. 

Total Democrats from Free States 23. 

So the resolve passed the House, and was 
sent to the Senate for concurrence. 

In Senate, several attempts to originate 
action in favor of Annexation were made 
at this session, but nothing came of them. 

Feb. 2ith. The joint resolution aforesaid 
from the House was taken up for considera- 
tion by 30 Yeas to 11 Nays (all Northern 
Whigs). On the 27th, Mr. Walker of Wis. 
moved to add an alternative proposition, 
contemplating negotiation as the means of 
effecting the meditated end. 

Mr. Foster (Whig) of Tenn. proposed the 
following : 

" And provided further. That in fixing the 
terms and conditions of such admission, it shall 
be expressly stipulated and declared, that the 
State of Texas, and such other States as may be 
formed out of that portion of the present Territory 
of Texas lying south of thirty six deg. thirty min_. 
north latitude, commonly known as the Missouri 
Compromise line, sl^all be admitted into the 
Union with or without Slavery, as the people of 
each State, so hereafter asking admission, may 
desire : And provided furthermore. That it shall 
be also stipulated and declared, that the public 
debt of Tex.-is shall in no event become a charge 
upon the government of the United States." 

The question was first taken on the first 
(Slavery) proviso of the foregoing, which 
was defeated, by Yeas and Nays, as fol- 
lows : 

YEAS — For the Slavery Proviso: 



Messrs. Archer, Va. 
Barrow, La. 
Bayard, Del 
Berrien, Ga. 
Clayton, Del. 



Jarnagin, Tenn. 
.lohnson. La. 
Maiigum, N. C. 
Merrick, Md. 
Morehcad, Ky. 



Crittenden, Ky. Pearce, Md. 

Foster, Tenn. Phelps, Vt. 

Haniicgan, Ind. Rives, Va. 

Huger, S. C. Sevier, Ark. — 18. 

All Whigs but three (m Italics). 



THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 



43 



NAYS — Airninat the Slai-enj Proi'iso: 

Messrs. Alli'ii, Ohio. Franclti, U. I 

AsliU'v, .Vik. Hayw<.(..l, N. C. 

Aloliisoii, Mo. HeiuliTsoii, Mms. 

Athcrlon, N. H. lluiitiiijrtoii, Conn. 

]!at:l)v, Alii. Lewis, Ala. 

Bales", Mass. MeDutlie, S. 0. 

I!eiit(.ii, Mo. Miller, N. Y. 

IJreeso, Itid. Niies, Conn. 

IJuclianan, Pii. Porter, I.1I. 

Clioate. Mass. Sein|)le. 111. 

Colquitt, (ia. Sliir^i-eon, Pa. 

Davton, N. J. Tapjian, Ohio. 

Dickinson, N.Y. Uplinin, Vt. 

l)i.\, N. Y. Walker, Wis. 

Evans, Mo. Whit.-. Ind 

Fairfield, Mo. Woodbridge, Mich. 

Woodbuiy, N. H.— 3 1. 

The other branch of the amendment was 
vottd down. Yeas. 20 (Whigs) ; Nays, 31 
(25 Democrats and G Whij^^s). 

Various amendments were proposed and 
voted down. Among them, Mr. Foster, of 
Tenu., moved an express stipulalion that 
Slavery should be tolerated in all States 
formed out of the Territory of Te.xas, south 
of the Missouri line of .36-^'' 30'. Rejected- 
Yeas, IG (Southern AVhigs, and Sevier of 
Arkansas) ; Nays, 33. 

Mr. Miller, of N. J., moved to strike out 
all after the enacting clause, and insert : 

"That the President of the United States be, 
and he hereby is, authorized and advised to open 
noRotiations with Mexico and Texas, for the ad- 
justment of boundaries, and the annexation of 
the latter to the United States, on the following 
basis, to wit : 

•'1. The boundary of the annexed territory to 
be in the desert prairie we.st of the Nueces, and 
alonti; the highlands and mountain heights which 
divide the waters of the Mississippi from the 
waters of the Rio del Norte, and to latitude forty- 
two degrees north. 

"II. The people of Texas, by a legislative act, 
or by any authentic act which shows the will of 
the ma)t)rily, to express Iheir assent to said an- 
nexation. 

"III. A State to be called 'the State of Texas,' 
with boundaries fixed by herself, and an extent 
not exceeding the largest State of the Union, be 
admitted into the Union, by virtue of this act, on 
an equal footing with the original States. 

"IV. The remainder of the annexed territory, 
to be held and disposed of by the United States 
as one of their Territories, to be called ' the 
Southwest Territory.' 

" V. The existence of Slavery to be forever 
prohibited in the northern and northwestern part 
of said Territory, wc^t of the lOtlth degree of lati- 
tude west froni Greenwich, so as to divide, as 
equally as may bo, the whole of the annexed 
country between slaveholding and uon-slavo- 
holding States. 

" VI. The assent of Mexico to be obtained by 
treaty to such annexation and boundary, or to 
be dispensed with when the Congress of the 
United States may deem such assent to bo unne- 
cessary. 

" Vil. Other details of the annexation to bo 
adjusted by ti-eaty, so far as the same may come 
within the scope of the treaty-making power." 

Kejected by the following vote : 
YEAS— For Mr. Miller's Subttitute: 



Choate of Jla-OH. Miller of N. J. 

Crittenden of Ky. Phelps of Vt. 

Dayton of N. .1. Uiihiim of Vt. 

Woodbi-idgo of Mich.— 11 (all Whig.s). 

NAYS— Against Mr. Milter'.^ Substitute: 

Messrs. Allen, Ohio. Haywood, N. C. 

Ashley, Ark. llenderHon, Miss. 

Atchison, Mo. IIug<'r, S. C. 

Atherton, N. II. Jarnai^in, Tenn. 

liagby, Ala. .lohnHnn. La. 

HaiTow, jjn. Lewi.s, Ala. 

Pentoii, Mo. iMeDiillie, S. C. 

lireese, Ind. Merrick, Md. 

liuchanan. Pa. Niles, Conn. 

Clayton, Del. Pearce, Md. 

Colquitt, Ga. Kives, Va. 

Dickinson, N.Y. Seinple, III. 

Dix, N. \. Sevier, Ark. 

Fairfield, Mo. Sturgeon. Pa. 

Foster, Tenn. Tappan, Ohio, 

llannegan, Ind. Walker, Wis. 
Woodbury, N. 11.— :33. 

The Walker amendment aforesaid was car- 
ried, by Yeas 27, to Nays 25, as follows : 

YEAS — For Walker's Amendtnent: 



Messrs. Allen, 


Haywood, 


Ashley, 


Henderson, 


Atchison, 


Hnger, 


Atherton, 


Johnson, 


Uagby, 


Lewis, 


Benton, 


McDuffie, 


Breese, 


Merrick, 


Buchanan, 


Niles, 


Colquitt, 


Semple, 


Dickinson, 


Sevier, 


Dix, 


Sturgeon, 


Faiilield, 


Tappan, 


llanucgan. 


Walker, 


Woodbury- 


-27. 


NAYS — Agaiiist Walker's Amemlmi 


Messrs. Archer, 


Huntington, 


Barrow, 


Jarnagin, 


Bates, 


Mangum, 


Bayard, 


Miller, 


Berrien, 


Morehead, 


Choate, 


Pearce, 


Clayton, 


Phelps, 



Messrs. Archer of Va. 
Bcrrieu of Ga. 



Evans of Me. 
Francis of R. I. 



Crittenden, Porter, 

Dayton, Rives, 

Evans, Simmons, 

Foster, Upham, 

Francis, White, 

Woodbridge — 25. 

The resolution as thus amended was adopt- 
ed (Feb. 27,) by Yeas and Nays as follows : 

YEAS — For the Proposition as amended : 

Messrs. Allen, Haywood, 

Ashley, Henderson, 

Atchison, linger, 

Atherton, JuUnxon, 

Bagby, Lewis, 

Benton, McDufl!io, 

Breese, Merrick. 

Buchanan, Kilos, 

Colquitt, Semple, 

Dickinson, Sevier, 

Dix, Sturgeon, 

Fairfield, Tappan, 

llannegan. Walker, 
^\■oodbury— 2«. 

[Yeas — All Democrats but three in italics, 
of whom Messrs. Henderson and Merrick 
have since been Democrats.] 



44 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



NAYS — Against the proposed Annexation i 



Messrs. Archer, 
IJarrow, 
Bates, 
Bayard, 
Berrien, 
Choate, 
Clayton, 
Crittenden, 
Dayton, 
Evans, 
Foster, 
Francis, 
Woodbridge — 25- 



Huntington, 
Jarnagin, 
Mniigum, 
Miller, 
Morciiead, 
Pearee, 
Phelps, 
Porter, 
Rives, 
Simmons, 
Upham, 
White, 
-[all Whigs]. 



The joint resolve being thus returned to 
the House as amended by the Senate, a vote 
wasahnost immediately taken on concurring, 
and the amendment of the Senate was assent- 
ed to— Yeas, 134 ; Nays, 77. [A strict par- 
ty vote, except that Mr. Dellet of Alabama, 
(Whig) voted in the majority] . So the An- 
nexation of Texas was decreed, and in the 
following terms : 

JOINT RESOLUTION FOR ANNEXING TEXAS TO 
THE UNITED STATES. 

"Resolved, hy the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives of the. United States in Congress 
assembled, That Congress doth consent that the 
territory properly included within, and rightfully 
belonging to, the Republic of Texas, may be 
erected iuto a new State, to be called the State 
of Texas, with a Republican form of government, 
to be adopted by the people of said Republic, by 
deputies in convention assembled, with the con- 
sent of the existing government, in order that the 
same may be admitted as one of the States of 
this Union. 

"Sec. -2. And be it farther resolved, That the 
foregoing consent of Congress is jjiveu upon the 
followmg conditions, and with the following guar- 
anties, to wit: 

" First. Said State to be formed, subject to the 
adjustment by this Government of all questions 
of boundary that may arise with other Govern- 
ments ; and the constitution thereof, with the 
proper evidence of its adoption by the people of 
said Republic of Te.xas, shall be transmitted to 
the President of the United States, to bo laid be- 
fore Congress for its final action, on or before the 
first day of January, one thousand eight hun- 
dred and forty-six. 

''Second. Said State, when admitted into the 
Union, after ceding to the United States all pub- 
lic edifices, fortitications, barracks, ports, and 
harbors, navy and navy-yards, docks, magazines, 
arms, armaments, and all other property and 
means pertaining to the public defense, belong- 
ing to the said Republic of Texas, shall retain all 
the public funds, debts, taxes, and dues of every 
kind which may belong to, or be due or owing said 
Republic ; and shall also retain all the vacant or 
unappropriated lands lying within its limits, to be 
applied to the pavment of the debts and liabilities 
of said Republic of Texas; and the residue of 
said lands, after discharging said debts and lia- 
bilities, to become a charge upon the United 
States. 

" Third. New States of convenient size, not 
exceeding four in number, in addition to the said 
State of Texas, and having sufliicient population, 
may hereafter, by the consent of said State, be 
formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be 
entitled to admission under the provision of the 
Federal Constitution ; and such States as may bo 
formed out of that portion of said territory lying 



South of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north 
latitude, commonly known as the Missouri Com- 
promise line, shall be admitted into the Union 
with or without Slavery, as the people of each 
State asking admission may desire. And in such 
State or States as shall be formed out of said ter- 
ritory north of said Missouri Compromise line, 
Slavery or involuntary servitude (except for 
crime) shall be prohibited. 

[Walker's Amendment — added.] 
" And be it further resolved. That if the Presi- 
dent of the United States shall, in his judgment 
and discretion, deem it most advisable, instead 
of proceeding to submit the foregoing resolu- 
tion to the republic of Texas, as an overture on 
the part of the United States, for admission, to 
negotiate with that Republic ; then, 

" Be it resolved, That a State to be formed out 
of the present Republic of Texas, with suitable 
extent and boundaries, and with two representa- 
tives in Congress, until the next apportionment 
of representation, shall be admitted into the 
Union by virtue of this act, on an equal footing 
with the existing States, as soon as the terms and 
conditions of such admission, and the cession 
of the remaining Texan territory to the United 
States, shall be agreed upon by the Governments 
of Texas and the United States. 

''And beit further enacted. That the sum of 
one hundred thousand dollars be, and the same 
is hereby, appropriated to defray the expenses 
of missions and negotiations, to agree upon the 
terms of said admission and cession, either by 
treaty to be submitted to the Senate, or by arti- 
cles to be submitted to the two Houses of Con- 
gress, as the President may direct. 

" Approved, March 2, 1845." 



XI. 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

Texas having been annexed during the 
summer of 1845, in pursuance of the forego- 
ing joint resolution of the two Houses of 
Congress, a portion of the United States 
Army, under Gen. Taylor, was, early in the 
Spring of 1846, moved down to the east 
bank of the Rio Grande del Norte, claim- 
ed by Texas as her Western boundary, but 
not so regarded by Mexico. A hostile col- 
lision ensued, resulting in war between the 
United States and Mexico. 

It was early thereafter deemed advisable 
that a considerable sum should be placed by 
Congress at the President's disposal, to ne- 
gotiate an advantageous Treaty of Peace 
and Limits with the Mexican government. 
A Message to this effect was submitted by 
President Polk to Congress, August 8th, 
1846, and a bill in accordance with its sug- 
gestions laid before the House, which pro- 
ceeded to consider the subject in Committee 
of the Whole. The bill appropriating $30,000 
for immediate use in negotiations with Mexi- 
co, and placing $2,000,000 more at the dis- 
posal of the President, to be employed in 
making peace, Mr. David Wilmot, of Pa., 
after consultation with other Northern Demo- 
crats, offered the following Proviso, in ad- 
dition to the first section of the bill : 

" Provided, That as an express and fundament- 
al condition to the acquisition of any territory 



THE WILMOT ITvOVlriO. 



45 



from the Republic of Mexico by the United Stntoa, 
by virtue of (iiiy troiity wliicJi iimy bo ne;,'otiuted 
between them, (ind to llie u.-e by the Executive 
of tile nuiiiey.i hereiu nppniiiriiited, neither 
Slavery nor iiivojuntiiry servitude kIuiII ever ex 
1st in iniv l>Krt i)f miid terrilorv, except for crime, 
•\vLereol"tlio imrty nhull tirst be duly convicted." 

This proviso was carried in Committee, 
by llie stroiij;: vote of eiglity-tiiree to sixty- 
four— only three Members (Democrats) from 
tlu! Free States, it was said, o])posiiig it. 
[No record is made of iiulividtial votes in 
Committee of the Whole.] 'I'iie bill was 
tiien reported to the House, and Mr. Rath- 
bun of N. Y. moved the previous question 
on its enjirrossment. 

Mr. Tibbatts of Ky. moved that it do 
lie on the talile Defeated — Yeas 7!) ; 
[Stejihon A. Douglas, Joint A. McCler- 
uand, John Petlit, and Robert C. Schonck, 
voting with the South to lay on the table] ; 
Nays 93 ; [Henry (J rider and William P. 
Thomasson of Ky. (Whigs) voting with the 
North against it]. 

'J'he bill was then engrossed for its third 
readitig by Yea.s 85, Nays 80 ; and thus 
passed wifhout further division. A motion 
to reconsider was laid on the table — Yeas 
71 ; Nays 83. So the bill was passed and 
sent to the Senate, where Mr. Dixon TI. 
Lewis of Ala. moved that the Proviso 
above cited be stricken out ; on which de- 
bate arose, and Mr. John Davis of IMass. 
was speaking when, at noon of August 10th, 
the time fixed for adjournment having ar- 
rived, both Houses adjourned without day. 

[NoTK. — We do not give the Yeas and Nays 
on the divisions just above, the House having 
been quite thin when they were taken, and some 
Northern Members votinjj with the South from 
hostility to the whole project of buying either 
pence or territory. Generally, however, the vote 
ran much as former divisions would lead one to 
expect. Mr. Stephen A. Douglas, and some 
other friends of the original bill, voted against it 
at every stage after the Proviso was added.] 



The XXX th Congress assembled Dee. 6, 
1847. 

Feb. 28///, 1848, Mr. Putnam of N. York 
moved the following : 

" Whrrms, In the settlement of the difficulties 
pending between this country and Mexico, terri- 
tory may be acquired in which Slavery does not 
now exist : 

'^ And ichcreaa, Congress, in the organization 
of a terriforial government, at an early period of 
our political hi.slory established a principle worthy 
of imitation in all future time, forbidding the ex- 
istence of Sltvery in free territory ; Therefore, 

" IiCfiolrrH, That in any territory, that may be 
ncqnired from Mexico, over whichshall be estab- 
lished territorinl L'ovcrnments, Slavory, or involun- 
tary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, 
shall be forever i>rohibited ; and that in any act 
or resolution establishing such governments, a 
fundamental provision ought to be uiscrted to that 
effect" 



Mr. R. IJrodhead of Penn. moved that this 
resolution lie on the table. Carried ; Yeas, 
10;') ; Nuy.s, !):i. 

[Yeas— ull th(' members from Slave States, 
but John W. Houston (Whig), of Delaware, 
with the Ibllowing from Free States (all 
Democrats but Ijevin) : 

Maine.— Asa W. II. Clapp, Franklin Clark, Job. 
S. Wiley, Ih'Zekiah W'illiarnH — I. 

Nkw YouK.— Ausburn IJirdniili, David S. Jack- 
son, Kredi^rick W. Lord, Williiuii It. Mncliiy — 1. 

I'KN.Nsvi.VANiA. — Kicliard Ibodliciid, ClmrlcB 
IJrown, />(•«•/.< ('. I.rviii, .Job Munn — 1. 

Ohio. — William Kennon, jr., .lolin K. Miller, 
Thomas Kichey, ^^'illianl Sawyer — 1. 

India.n.a. — Charles W. Cathcart, Thomas J. 
Ilcnlev, John Pctitt, John L. Itobinson, William 
W. Wi( k— .'i. 

Ii.r.i.Mus. — Orlando H. Ficklin, John A. Mc- 
Clernand, ^\'illian^ A. liichardson, Kobert Smith, 
Thomas J. Turner — 5. 

Nays — all the "Whigs and a large majority 
of the Democrats from Free States, with 
John W. Houston aforesaid. 

This vote terminated all direct action in 
favor of the Wilmot proviso for that Ses- 
sion. 

Jnhi 18//(.— In Senate, Mr. Clayton of 
Del., from the Select Committee to which 
was referred, on the 12th inst., the bill pro- 
viding a territorial government for Oregon, 
reported a bill to establish Territ(jrial gov- 
ernments for Oregon, New Mexico, and Cali- 
fornia, which was read. [It proposed to 
submit all questions as to the rightful exist- 
ence or extent of Slavery in the Territories 
to the decision of the Supreme Court of the 
United States.] 

Juhj 2-itk. — Second reading. Mr. Bald- 
win of Conn, moved to strike out so much 
of said bill as relates to California and New 
Mexico. Rejected; Yeas, 17 (Northern 
Free Soil men of both parties) ; Nays, 37. 

The bill was diseusvsed through several 
succeeding days. On the 2Gth, Mr. Clarke 
of R. I. moved to add to the Gth section : 

" Provided, however. That no law, regulation, or 
act of the provisional govenimeut of said Territory 
permitting Slavery or involuntary servitude there- 
in shall be valid, until the same shall be approved 
by Congress.'' 

Rejected ; Yeas, 19 [Col. Benton, and 
18 Northern Freesoilers of both parties] ; 
Nays, 33. 

Mr. Reverdy Johnson of Md. moved to 
amend the bill by inserting — 

" Except only, that in all eases of title to Slaves, 
the said writ.=; of error or appeals shall be allowed 
and decided by the sai<l Supreme Court without 
regard to the "value of the matter, property, or 
title in controversy, and except, also, that a writ 
of error or appeal shall also be allowed to the Su- 
preme C'ourt of the United States from the decision 
of the said Supreme Court created by this act. or 
of any judire thereof or of the district'Courts crea- 
ted by this act, or of any judge ujion any writ of 
habeas corpus iuvolvmg the question of personal 
freedom." 

Carried : Yeas, 31 (all sorts) ; Nays, 19 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



46 

(all Southern, but Bright, Dickinson, and 
Hannepan). _ . 

Mr. Bakhvin of Conn, moved au additional 
section, as follows : 

" Sec. 37. And be it further enacted. That it 
shall be the duty of the attorneys for said Terri- 
tories, respectively, on the comjilaint of any per- 
son held in involuntary servitude therein, to make 
application in his behalf in due form of law,_ to 
the court next thereafter to be holden in said Ter- 
ritory, for a writ of habeas corpus, to be directed 
to the person so holding such applicant in service 
as aforesaid, and to pursue all needful measures in 
his behalf; and if the decision of such court shall 
be adverse to the application, or if, on the return 
of the wrh, relief shall be denied to the applicant, 
on the ground that he is a slave held in servitude 
in said Territory, said attorney shall cause an ap- 
peal to be taken therefrom, and the record of all 
the proceedint^s in the case to be transmitted to 
the Supreme Court of the United States as speedily 
as may be, and to give notice thereof to the At- 
torney General of the United States, who shall 
prosecute the same before said Court, who shall 
proceed to hear and determine the same at the 
first term thereof." 

Teas, 15 (all Northern, except Benton) ; 
Nays, 31. 

Mr. Davis of Mass. moved to strike out 
section 12, and insert as follows : 

" Sec. I'i. And be it further enacted, That so 
much of the sixth section of the ordinance of the 
13th July, 1787, as is contained in the following 
words; viz : ' There shall be neither Slavery nor 
involuntary servitude in the said Territory, 
otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, 
whereof the party shall have been duly convict- 
ed,' shall be and remain in force in the Territory 
of Oregon." 

This was defeated ; Teas, 2] ; Nays, 33, as 
follows : 

YEAS— For the Slavery Prohibition: 
Messrs. Allen, Ohio. Dodge, Wise. 

Atherton, N. H. Fclch, Mich. 
Baldwin, Conn. Fitzgerald, Mich. 
Benton, Mo. Greene, K. I. 

Bradbury, Mo. Hale, N. H. 
Clarke, R. I. Hamlin, Me. 

Corwin, Ohio, Miller, N. J. 
Davis, Mass. Niles, Conn. 
Dayton, N. J. Spruance, Del. 
Dix, N. Y. Upham, Vt. 

Walker, Wis.— 21. 



YEAS — For Clatjtoii's Compromise: 
Messrs. Atchison, Houston, 



NAYS— Against the 

Messrs. Atchison, Mo. 
Badger, N. C. 
Bell,Tcnn. 
Berrien, Ga. 
Borland, Ark. 
Breese, III. 
Bright, Ind. 
Butler, S. C. 
Calhoun, S C. 
Clayton, Del. 
Davis, Miss. 
Dickinson, N. Y, 
Douglas, III. 
Downs, La. 
Fool,., Miss, 
llaiinogan, Ind. 
Yulee 

The bill was then engrossed for a third 
reading ; Yeas, 33 ; Nays, 22 ; as fol- 
lows: 



Slavery Prohibition . 

Houston, Texas. 
Hunter, Va. 
Johnson, Md. 
Johnson, La. 
Johnson. Ga. 
King, Ala. 
Lewis, Ala. 
Mangum, N. C. 
Ma.son, Va. 
Metcalf, Ky. 
Rusk, Texas, 
Sebastian, Ark. 
Sturgeon. Pa. 
Turney, Tenn. 
Underwood, Ky. 
Westcott, Fla. 
-33. 



Atherton 

Benton, 

Beriien, 

Borland, 

Breese, 

Bright, 

Butler, 

Calhoun, 

Clayton, 

Davis, Miss 

Dickinson, 

Douglas, 

Downs, 

Foote, 

Haunegan, 



Yulee — 33. 



Hunter, 

Johnson, Md. 

Johnson, La. 

Johnson, Ga. 

King, 

Lewis, 

Slangum, 

Mason, 

Phelps, 

Rusk, 

Sebastian, 

Spruance, 

Sturgeon, 

Turney, 

Westcott, 



NAYS— Against Clayton's hill 

Messrs. Allen, 
Badger, 
Baldwin, 
Bell, 



Bradbury, 

Clarke, 

Corwin, 

Davis, Mass. 

Dayton, 

Dix. 

Dodge, 



Felch, 

Fitzgerald, 

Greene, 

Hale. 

Hamhn, 

Metcalf, 

Miller, 

Kiles, 

Underwood, 

Upham, 

Walker— 22. 



So the bill was engrossed, and immedi- 
ately passed without a division. 

July 28//;.— This bill reached the House, 
and was taken up and read twice. 

Mr. Linn Boyd of Ky. moved it to a 
Committee of the Whole on the State of the 
Union. 

Mr. C. B. Smith of Ind. moved and ob- 
tained a call of the House, when all but 
eighteen Members responded. 

"Mr. A. H. Stephens of Ga. moved that 
the bill do lie on the table. Yeas and Nays 
ordered, and the motion prevailed : Yeas, 
112 ; Nays, 97. 

Yeas all the Free State Whigs, with the 
following Whigs from Slave States : 

Virginia.— John S. Pendleton — 1. 

NoiiTH Carolina.— Nathaniel Boydon, Rich- 
ard S. Donuell— 2. 

Georgia.— Alex- H. Stephens — 1. 

Kentucky.— Green Adams, Aylett Buckner, 
John B. Thompson — 3. 

Tennessee.— John H. Crozier — 1. 

Total, eight Whigs from Slave States. 
Democratsfrora Free States : 

Maine.— Asa W. H. Clapp, David Hammons, 
Ephraim K. Smart, James S Wiley— 4. 

NEW-HAMrsHiRE.--Charles H. Feasloe— 1. 

Vermont.— Lucius B. Peck— 1. 

Rhode Island.— Benjamin B. Thurston— 1. 

New York.— William Collins, Timothy Jen- 
kins, Sidney Lawrence, Frederick W. Lord, 
William B. Maclay, Henry Nicoll, George A. 
Starkweather — 7. 

Pennsylvania Wm. Strong, James Ihomp- 

son, David Wilmot— 3. 

Ohio.- James J. Faran, George Fries, Samuel 
Lnhm Jonathan D. Morris_4. 

Indiana. — Thomas J. Ilenloy—l. 

Illinois Robeit Smith, John Weutworth_2. 



TUE WILMOT PROVISO. 



47 



Michigan. — Kinslry S. Binf^hnm, Robert 
McClelliiml, Cli(irU-« E. Stimrt— 3. 

Wisconsin.— Miwoii C. Darling, William I'ltt 
Lyii<l<— -2. 

Iowa.— William Thompson -1. 

Total Di'iuocrats from Free States— 30. 

Total Wliiir.s from Frei; States— 74. 

Nayr^, 21 Democrats from Free States, 
with 70 Democrats and Whigs from Slave 
Stato.-^. 

Mr. Pollock of Fa. moved that this vote 
be reconsidered, and that the motion to re- 
consider do lie on the table ; which prevailed 
— Yeas, 113 ; Nays, 9G. (V'ote same as be- 
fore, except that Mr. Franklin Clark of 
Maine changed from the minority to the 
majority.) 

So .Air. Clayton's project of Compromise 
■was defeated. 

GEN. CASS'S NICHOLSON LETTER. 

Immediately after the adjournment of 
Congre^-S in 1847, Gen. Cass was currently 
reported to have expressed his favorable 
opinion of the Wilmot Proviso, and his re- 
gret that Mr. Davis's untimely remarks in 
the Senate had deprived him (Cass) of an 
opportunity of recording his vote in its favor. 
This remark he was said to have made in a 
railroad ear, on his homeward journey from 
Washington. If such a position were taken 
by him. however, it was not long maintained ; 
as the following letter from his pen appeared 
during the winter of 1847-8, and proved a 
prelude to the nomination of the writer for 
President, by the Democratic National Con- 
vention which assembled at Baltimore in the 
spring of 1848. It may be regarded as the 
first logical and well-considered enunciation 
of the doctrine of " Squatter Sovereignty." 

Gen. Cass to A. O. P. Nicholson. 

Washington, Dec. 24. 1847. 

Dear Sir, — I have received your letter, and 
shnll answer it as frankly as it is written. 

You a.sk me whether I am in f;ivor of the ae- 
quisitioii of Jlexican territory, and what are my 
sentimont.s with rejjard to the Wilmot Proviso. 

I have &o often and so explicitly stated my 
views of the first question, in the Senate, that it 
seems almost unnecessary to repeat them here. 
As you request it, however, I shall briefly give 
tliem. 

I think, then, that no peace should be granted 
to Mexico, till a reasonable indemnity is obtained 
for the injuries which she has done us. The ter- 
ritorial extent of this indemnity is, in the first 
instance, a subject of Executive consideration. 
There the Constitution has placed it, and there I 
nm willing to leave it: not only because I have 
full confidence in its judicious exercise, but be- 
cause, in the ever- varying circumstances of a war, 
it would be indiscreet, by a jjiiblic declai-ation, 
to conmiit the country to any line of indemnity, 
which might otherwi'se be enlarged, as the obsti- 
nate injustice of the enemy prolongs the contest, 
with its loss of blood and treasure. 

It ajipears to me, that the kind of metaphysical 
magnanimity which would reject all indemnity 
at the clii-.e of a bloody and expensive war, 
brought on by a direct attack upon our troops by 
the enemy, aiid preceded by a succession of unjust 



nctfl for a Bcrics of years, is ns unworthy of tho 
nge iu which we live, n^ it is revollini; to tlio 
conniKin sense mikI practice of mankind. It would 
conduce but little to our future Bccurity, or, in- 
dec<i, to our present rei)UtHtion, to declare that 
we repudiate all expectation of compeiiHHtion from 
tlie Mexican (lovcrinncnl, and are tii;hling, not 
for any praclicul result, hut for smne vague, per- 
haps ]p|iilaiitiirnpic. Dbjcct, wliiiii i'«cMpe8 my 
penetration, and must bo defined liy those who 
assume this new ]Miiicii)lo of national intercom- 
nninication. All wars arc to be deprei-Mleil, na 
well by flic statesman as by the pInlantliropiHt. 
They are great evils ; but there are greater c%'ila 
than these, and submission to injiistiee is among 
fhein. The nation which should refuse to defend 
its rights and its honor, when assailed, would 
Boon have neither to defend ; and, when driven to 
war, it is not by professions of disinterestedness 
and declarations of magnanimity thai its rational 
objects can be best obtained, or other nations 
taught a lesson of forbearance — the strongest se- 
curity for i)ermaneiit peace. We are at war with 
Mexico, and its vigorous prosecution is the surest 
means of its speedy termination, and auii)le in- 
demnity the surest guaranty against the recur- 
rence of sneh injustice as ])rovoked it. 

Tho Wilmot Proviso has been before the coun- 
try some time. It has been repeatedly discussed 
in Congress, and by the public Press. I am 
strongly impressed with the opinion, that a great 
change has been going on in the public mind upon 
this subject, in my own as well as others ; and 
that doubts arc resolving themselves into convic- 
tions, that the principle it involves should be kept 
out of the National Legislature, and left to tho 
people of the confederacy m their respective local 
governments. 

The whole subject is a comprehensive one, and 
fruitful of important consequences. It would be 
ill-timed to discuss it here. I shall not assume 
that responsible task, hut shall confine myself to 
such general views as arc necessary to the fair 
exhibition <if my opinions. 

We may well regret the existence of Slaveiy in 
the Southern States, and wish they had been 
saved from its introduction. But there it is, not 
by the act of the present generation ; and we must 
deal with it as a great practical question, involv- 
ing the most momentous consequences. We have 
neither the right nor the power to touch it where 
it exists ; and if we had both, their exercise, by 
any means heretofore suggested, might lead to 
results which no wise man would willingly en- 
counter, and which no good man could contem- 
plate without anxiety. 

The theory of our Government presupposes 
that its various members have reserved to them- 
selves the regulation of all subjects relating to 
what may be termed their internal ])i>lice. They 
are sovereign within their boundaries, except iu 
those cases where they have surrendered to the 
General Government u portion of their rights, in 
order to give eft'ect to the objects of the Union, 
whether the.se concern foreign nations or the seve- 
ral States themselves. Local institutions, if I 
may so speak, whether they have reference to 
Slavery or to any other relations, domestic or 
public, are left to local authority, either original 
or derivative. Congress has no right to say that 
there shall be Slavery in New- York, or that there 
shall be no Slavery in Georgia ; nor is there any 
other human power, but tho people of those States, 
resi-ectivelv, which can change the relations ex- 
istuig tlieie"in : and they can say, if they will. Wo 
will liave Slavery in tho former, and we will 
ab dish it in the latter. 

In various respects, the Territories differ from 
the States. Some of their rights are inchoate, and 
they do not possess the peculiar attributes of 
sovereignty. Their relatiou to the General Gov- 



48 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



eminent is very imperfectly defined by the Con- 
etitution; and it will be found, upon examination, 
that in that instrument the only prant of power 
concerning them is conveyed in the phrase, 
" Congres'p shall Imve the power to dispose of and 
make all needful rules and regulations, respecting 
the territory and other property belonging to the 
United States." Certainly this pln-aseology is 
very loose, if it were designed to include in the 
grant the whole power of legislation over persons, 
as well as things. The expression, the " territory 
and other property," fairly construed, relates to 
the public lands, as such ; to arsenals, dockyards, 
forts, ships, and all the various kinds of property 
which the United Slates may and must possess. 

But surely the simple authority to dinpoae of 
and regiilalc these does not extend to the un- 
limited "power of legislation ; to the passage of all 
laws, m the most general acceptation of the word ; 
•which, by-theby, is carefullj; excluded tyom the 
sentence. And, indeed, if this were so, it would 
render unnecessary another provision of the Con- 
stitution, which grants to Congress the power to 
legislate, with the consent of the States, respec- 
tively, over all places purchased for the " erec- 
tion of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards," etc. 
These being the ''property" of the United States, 
if the power to make " needful rules and regula- 
tions concerning" them includes the general 
power of legislation, then the grant of authority 
to regulate '' the territory and other propertj' of 
the United States" is unlimited, wherever subjects 
are found for its operation, and its exercise needed 
no auxiliary provision. If, on the other hand, it 
does not include such power of legislation over tho 
"other property" of the United States, then it 
does not include it over their " territory ;" for tho 
same terms which grant the one, grant the other. 
" Territorif is here classed with property, and 
treated as such ; and the object was evidently to 
enable the General Government, as a property- 
holder — which, from necessity, it must be — to 
manage, preserve and " dispose of" such property 
as it might possess, and which authority is essen- 
tial almost to its being. But the lives and persons 
of our citizens, with the vast variety of objects 
connected with them, cannot be controlled by an 
authority which is merely called into existence 
for the purpose of making rules and regulations 
for the disposition and management of property. 
Such, it appears to me, would be the construc- 
tion put upon this provision of the Constitution, 
were this question now first presented for consid- 
eration, and not controlled by imperious circum- 
stances. The original ordinance of the Congress 
of the Confederation, passed in J 787, and which 
M^as the only act upon this subject in force at the 
adoption of the Constitution, provided a complete 
frame of govcrnmeut for tho country north of 
the Ohio, while in a territorial condition, and for 
its eventual admission in separate States into the 
Union. And the persuasion that this ordinance 
contamed within itself all the necessarjf means 
of execution, probably prevented any direct re- 
ference to the subject in the Constitution, further 
than vesting in Congress the right to admit the 
States formed under it into the Union. However, 
circumstances arose, which required legislation, 
as well over the territory north of the Ohio as 
over other territory, both within and without the 
original Union, ceded to the general Government, 
and, at various times, a more enlarged power has 
been exercLsed over the Territories — meaning 
thereby tiie diliereut Territorial Governments— 
than is conveyed by the limited grant referred to. 
How far an existing necessity may have operated 
in producing this legislation, and thus extending, 
by rather a violent implication, powers not direct- 
ly given, I know not. But certain it is that the 
principle of interference should not be carried be- 
yond the necessary implication, which produces 



it. It should be limited to the creation of proper 
governments for new countries, acquired or set- 
tled, and to the necessary provision for their 
eventual admission into the Union ; leaving, in 
the mean time, to the people inhabiting them, to 
regulate their internal concerns in their own way. 
They are just as capable of doing so as the peo- 
ple of the States ; and they can do so, at any 
rate as soon as their political independence La 
recognized by admission into the Union. During 
this temporary condition, it is hardly expedient 
to call into exercise a doubtful and invidious 
authority, which questions the intelligence of a 
respectable portion of our citizens, and whose 
limitation, whatever it may be, will be rapidly 
approaching its termination — an authority which 
would give to Congress despotic power, uncon- 
trolled by the Constitution, over most important 
sections of our common country. For, if the re- 
lation of master and servant may be regulated or 
annihilated by its legislation, so may the regula- 
tion of husband and wife, of parent and child, 
and of any other condition which our institutions 
and the habits of our society recognize. What 
would be thought if Congress should undertake 
to prescribe the terms of marriage in New- York, 
or to regulate the authority of pm-ents over their 
children in Pennsylvania? And yet it would be 
as vain to seek one justifying the interference of 
the national legislature in the cases referred to in 
the original States of the Union. I speak here 
of the inherent power of Congress, and do not 
touch the question of such contracts as may be 
formed with new Stales when admitted into the 
confederacy. 

Of all the questions that can agitate us, those 
which are merely sectional in their character are 
the most dangerous, and the most to be depre- 
cated. The warning voice of him who from his 
character and services and virtue had the best 
right to warn us, proclaimed to his countrymen, 
in his Farewell Address — that monument of wis- 
dom for him, as I hope it will be of safely for 
them — how much we had to apprehend from 
measures peculiarly aflecting geographical sec- 
tions of our country. The grave cii-cumstancos 
in which we are now placed make these words 
words of safety ; for I am satisfied, from all I 
have seen and heard here, that a successful at- 
tempt to engraft the principles of the Wilmot 
Proviso upon the legislation of this Government, 
and to apply them to new territory, should new 
territory be acquired, would seriously affect our 
tranquillity. I do not suffer myself to foresee or 
to foretell the consequences that would ensue; 
for I trust and believe there is good sense and 
good feeling enough in the country to avoid them, 
by avoiding all occasions which might lead to 
them. 

Briefly, then, I am opposed to the exercise of 
any jurisdiction by Congress over this matter; 
and i am in favor of leavmg to the people of any 
territory, which may be hereafter acquired, tho 
right to regulate it for themselves, under the 
general principles of the Constitution. Be- 
cause — 

1. I do not see in the Constitution any grant of 
the requisite power to Congress ; and I am not 
disposed to extend a doubtful precedent beyond 
its necessity — the establishment of teiTitorial 
governments when needed — leaving to the inhabit- 
ants all the rights compatible with the relations 
they bear to the confederation. 

a. Because I believe this measure, if adopted, 
would weaken, if not impair, the union of the 
States ; and would sow the seeds of future discord, 
which would grow up and ripen into an abundant 
harvest of calamity. 

3. Because I believe a general conviction that 
such a proposition would succeed, would lead to 
an immediate withholding of the supplies, and 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 



49 



thus to a (lisliniiornhli^ tcrrninntion of tlin war. I 
tliinlv no (iisims.simuilc ohsi-rvt-r at tlio scut of 
Goveiiiim-iit can donlit tliis result. 

4. If, hovvcvor, in this I am under a niisnpprc- 
boiision, I am under none in tlie nrncticMl o])era 
lion of tills restrietiori, if adoptetl liy (!oni:ress, 
unon II treaty of peaee, makinff any acquisition 
ot Mexican fenilory. Such a treaty would lie 
rejected as certainiV as preseiitoil to tlie Senate. 
Jfore than oiio third of that liody would vote 
ntjainst it, viewiiii,' sucli a principle as an excln 
sion of the citizens of llio slavelioldiii^ States 
from a participation in the benetils ac<iuireil tiy 
tiio treasure and exertions of all, and whieii 
should be comuioii to all. I am repealinj,'— 
neither advaneini; nor defending these views. 
That branch of the subject does not lie in uiy 
way, and I shall not turn aside to seek it. 

In tliis aspect of the matter, the people of the 
United States must choos-e between this restric- 
tion and the extension of their territorial limits. 
They cannot have botii; and which tlK'y will sur- 
render must depend upon their representatives 
first, and then, if these fail them, upou them- 
selves. 

5. But after all, it .«eoms to bo f^enorally con- 
ceded that this restriction, if carried into efTect, 
could not operate upon any State to be formed 
from ucwly-acquired territory. The well known 
attributes of sovereignty, recognized by lis as 
l)elonging to the State Governments, would sweep 
before thein any such barrier, and would leave 
the people to express and c.xert their will at plea- 
sure. Is the ol))e<-t, then, of temporary exclusion 
for so short a period as the duration of the Terri- 
torial Governments, worth the price at which it 
it would be purchased.' — worth the discord it 
would engender, tlie trial to which it would expose 
our Union, and the evils that would be the certain 
consequence, let the trial result as it might? As 
to the course, which has been intimated, rather 
than proposeit. of engrafting such a restriction 
upon any treaty of ncipiisition, I persuade myself 
it would find but little favor in any portion of this 
country. Such an arrangement would render 
Mexico a party, having a right to interfere in our 
internal institutions in questions left by the Con- 
stitution to the State Governments, and would in- 
flict a serious blow upon our fundamental prin('i- 
pics. Few, indeed, 1 trust, there are among us 
who would thus gi-autto a foreign power the right 
to inquire into the constitution and conduct of the 
sovereign States of this Union ; and if there are 
any, I am not among them, nor never shall be. To 
the people of this country, under God, now and 
hereafter, are its destinies committed ; and we 
want no foreign power to interrogate us, treaty in 
hand, and to say, Why have you done this, or 
why have you left that undone ? Our own dignity 
and the prinei[)les of national independence unite 
to repel such a proposition. 

But there is another important consideration, 
which ought not to be lost sight of, in the in- 
vestigation of this subject. The question that 
presents itself is not a question of the increase, 
but of the ditfusion of Slavery. Whether its 
ephcre be stationary or progressive, its amount 
will be the same. The rejection of this restriction 
will not add one to the class of servitude, nor will 
its adoption give freedom to a single being who 
is now placed therein. The same numbers will be 
spread over greater territory ; and, so far as com- 
pression, with less abundance of the necessaries 
of lilbj is an evil, so far will that evil be mitigated 
by transporting slaves to a new country, and giv- 
ing them a larger space to occupy. 

I say this in the event of the extension of Slavery 
over any new acquisition. But can it go there .' 
This may well be doubted. All the des(!riptions 
which reach us of the condition of the Califoruias 
and of New-Mexico, to the acquisition of which 



our efforts seem at proRcnt directed, unite in rep- 
resenting those eonntries as agricultural r<'i_ri,,iiii, 
similar in their products to our Miildle Slates, and 
generally initit for the proiliiction of the great 
staph's which can alone reniler Slave labor valu- 
able. If we are not grossly deceived — and it is 
ditlicult to conceive how we can be — the inhidiit- 
aiits of those regions, whether they depend upon 
their jtlows or their herds, cannot be slaveholdcrn. 
Involuntary labor, reipiiring the inve.-lment of 
large capital, eau only be protitable when cm- 
ployed in the proiluction of a few favored articles 
confined by nature to sp<'cial districts, and paying 
larger returns than the usual agricultural produela 
spread over more considerable porliiius of the 
earth. 

In tho nblo letter of Mr. Buchanan u])on this 
subject, not long since given to the ]ud)lie, he 
presents similar considerations with great force. 
"Neither,'' says the distinguished writer, -'the 
soil, tlu^ climate, nor the production.s of California 
south of lit)" :{(•', nor indeed of any portion of it, 
North or South, is adapted to Slave labor; and 
beside every facility would be there afforded for 
the slave to escape from his master. Such pro- 
perty would be entirely insecure in any part of 
C'aliVornin. It is morally impossible, therefore, 
that a majority of the onigrants to that iiorfion 
of the territory south of 'M>'^ 3U', which will be 
chiefly composed of our (.■ifizens. will ever re- 
establish Slavery within its limits. 

" In regard to New-Mexico, east of the Kio 
Grande, the question has already been settled by 
the admission of Texas into the Union. 

" Siiould we acquire territory beyond the Rio 
Grande and east of the Rocky Mountains, it is 
still more imi)oasible that a majority of the people 
would consent to reestahlixli Slavery. They are 
themselves a colored population, and among them 
the negro docs not belong socially to a degraded 
race." 

With this last remark, Mr. Walker fully coin- 
cides in his letter written in 18 M, upon the annex- 
ation of Texas, and which everywhere produced 
so favorable an impression upon the public mind, 
as to have conduced very materially to the ac- 
complishment of that great measure. " Beyond 
the Del Norte," says Mr. Walker, " Slavery will 
not pass ; not only because it is forbidden by law, 
but because the colored race there preponderates 
ill the ratio of ten to one over the whites ; and 
holding, as they do, the government and most of 
the offices in their possession, they will not jiermit 
the enslavement of any portion of the colored 
race, which makes and executes the laws of the 
country." 

The question, it will be therefore seen on ex- 
amination, does not regard the exclusion of Slav- 
ery from a region where it now exists, but a pro- 
hibition against its introduction where it does not 
exist, and where, from the feelings of the inhabit- 
ants and the laws of nature, '"it is morally im- 
possible." as Mr. Buchanan says, that it can 
ever re establish itself 

It augurs well for the permanence of our con- 
federation, that during more than half a century, 
which has elapsed since the establishment of this 
Government, many serious questions, and some 
of the highest importance, have agitated the i>ub- 
lic mind, and more than once threatened the 
gravest consequences ; but that they have all in 
succession passed away, leaving our institutions 
unscathed, and our country advancing in num- 
bers, power, and wealth, and in all the other ele- 
ments of national prosperity, with a rapidity un- 
known in ancient or in modern days, hi times 
of jiolitical excitement, when difficult and delicate 
questions jiresent themselves for solution, there is 
one ark of safety for us ; and that is, an honest 
ajipeal to the fundamental prmeiples of our Union, 
and a stern determination to abide their dictates- 



50 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



This course of proceeding lias carried us in safety 
thnniirh many a trouble, and I trust will carry us 
pnfclv^ihroui^li many more, should many more be 
di'st'moil to assail us. The Wilmot Proviso seeks 
to take from its lofritjmato tribunal a questioii of 
domestic policy, having no relation to the Union, 
ns such, and to transfer it to another, created by 
the jiciiple for a special purpose, and foreign to 
the subject matter involved in this issue. By 
going back to our true principles, we go back to 
the rond of peace and safety. Leave to the peo- 
ple, who will be affected by this question, to ad- 
just it ui)iin their own responsibility, and intheir 
own manner, and we shall render another tribute 
to the original principles of our Government, and 
furnish another guaranty for its permanence and 
prosjjcrity. I am, dear sir, respectfully, your 
obedient servant, LEWIS CASS. 

A. 0. P. NiCHOi-SON, Esq., Nashville, Tenn. 



The next session of the same Congress 
opened undor very different auspices. The 
Mexican "War had been terminated, so that 
none could longer be deterred from voting 
for Slavery Exclusion by a fear that the 
prosecution of hostilities would thereby be 
embarrassed. General Taylor had been 
elected President, receiving the votes of De- 
laware, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, 
Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Florida 
— a moiety of the Slave States — over Gen. 
Cass, now' the avowed opponent of Slavery 
Restriction. Many of the Northern Demo- 
crats considered themselves absolved by this 
vote from all extra-constitutional obligations 
to the South, and voted accordingly. 

Dec. 13.— Mr. J. M. Eoo't of Ohio, offered 
uhe following : 

" Resolved, That the Committee on Territories 
be instructed to report to this House, with as little 
delay as practicable, a bill or bills providing a 
territorial govermnent for each of the Territories 
of New Mexico and California, and excluding 
Slavery therefrom." 

A call of the House was had, and the pre- 
vious question ordered. 

Mr. W. P. Hall of Mo. moved that the 
same do lie on the table. Lost : Yeas, 80 ; 
Nays, 106. 

The resolve then passed : Yeas, 108 ; 
Nays, 80, viz. : 

Yeas — All the Whigs from Free States, and all 
the Democrats, but those noted as Nays below, 
including the following, who had voted against 
the same principle at the former session : 

Maine.— Asa W. H. Clapp, James S.Wiley— 2. 

New York. — Frederick W. Lord — 1. 

Ohio. — Thomas Richey — 1. 

Indiana.— Charles W Cathcart, Thomas J. 
Henley, John L. Robinson, William W. Wick— 4. 

Illinois. — Robert Smith — 1. 

Messrs. Clark and H. Williams of Maine, Bird- 
sail and Maclay of New-York, Brodhead and 
Mann of Pa., Pettit of Ind., Ficklin and McClel- 
land of 111., who voted with the South at the for- 
mer session — now failed to vote. 

Mr. Jackson of N.Y., who then voted with the 
South, had been succeeded by Mr. H. Greeley, 
who voted with the North. 

Nays — All the Members voting from the Slave 
States, with the following from (he Free States : 

New-Youk. — Iloury C. Murphy — I. 



Pennsylvania — Charles Brown, Charles J. In- 
ge rsoll — 2. 

Ohio — William Kennon, jun., John K . Miller, 
William Sawyer — 3. 

Illinois.— William A. Richardson — 1. 

Iowa. — Sheplierd Leffler — 1. 

Total Nays from Free States — 8. 
Mr. Robinson of Ind. moved a reconsidera- 
tion of this vote, which motion (Dec. 18), 
on motion of ilr. Wentworth of 111., was 
laid on the tabic : Yeas, 10.5 ; Nays, 83. 

[Messrs. Clapp, Clark, and Wiley of Me., 
voted to lay on the table, as did Messrs. 
Lord of N. Y., Job Mann of Pa., Richey 
of Ohio, Henley and Wick of Indiana. R. 
Smith of 111. Messrs. C. Brown and Levin 
of Pa. did not now vote. The rest, very 
much as before, except that a few moi-e 
voted.] 

Dec. 20//t.— Mr. C. B. Smith accordingly 
reported a bill, establishing the Territorial 
Government of Upper California, which was 
read twice and committed. 

Jan. 3rd. — He reported a similar bill for 
the organization of New Mexico, which took 
the same direction. 

Jan. I5th. — Mr. Julius Rockwell of Mass. 
moved that these bills be made the special 
order for the '23d instant. Negatived : Yeas, 
114 (not two-thirds) ; Nays, 71 (nearly a 
sectional vote). 

Feb. 26-lth. — The bill was taken out of 
committee, and engrossed for a third reading. 

]\Ir. Meade of Ya. moved that it do lie on 
the table. Negatived : Yeas, 86 ; Nays, 
127. 

It was then passed by the following similar 
vote : 

Yeas — All the Whigs from the Free 
States, with Aylett Buckner (Wliig) of Ky., 
and all the Democrats also, except 

Pensylvania. — Samuel A. Bridges — 1. 
Ohio. — William Kcnuon, jun., John K. Miller, 
William Sawyer — 3. 
Total— 4. 



Nays^AW the Members from Slave 
States, except Mr. Buckner aforesaid, with 
the addition of those from Free States just 
mentioned. 

This bill was read twice in the Senate, 
(Feb. 28th), and referred to the Committee 
on Territories. 

March M. — Said Committee was discharg- 
ed from its further consideration, and Mr. 
Douglas moved that it be taken up in Senate, 
which was negatived. Yeas, 25 ; Nays, 28 
(all but a sectional vote). That was the 
end of the bill ; the Senate having already 
determined to affix its essential jjrovisionsto 
the Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation bill, 
and thus avoid and defeat the Slavery Exclu- 
sion contained in the House bill, and force 
the House to agree to organize the Terri- 
tories, ivithout such provision, or leave the 
Government without appropriations. How 
1 this succeeded, we shall see. 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 



61 



The Civil ami Diplomatic Appropriation 
bill having pa,«.so(l the iluuse in the usual 
form, came up to the Senate, where it was de- 
bated several days. 

Feb. 21*7.— Mr. Walker of Wise, moved 
an aniendiueut, e.vteiiding all the laws of the 
United States, so far as applieahle, to the 
Territories acquired from Mexico. 

Mr. Bell of 'I'eiin. moved to add further 
sections organizing- the State of California, 
to be admilted info tiie Union on the 1st of 
Oetober next. This Wiis rejected : Yeas 4 
(Bell, Dodge of Iowa, Douglas, Davis) ; 
is'ays 3!). 

Feb. 2(Uli. — Mr. Dayton of N. J. moved 
that the I'residi'ut be vested with power to 
provide a suitable temporary government for 
tlie Territories. Eejected ; Veas 8 ; Nays 
47. 

The question recurred on Mr. AValker's 
amendment, modified so as to read as fol- 
lows : 

"Sec. 5. Aud he if, further enacted, Tluit the 
Constitution of the UnUotl States, iu so fur as tiie 

Sro visions of the same be applicable to the con- 
itioii of a Territory of the United States, and uU 
and siiiffular the several acts of Congress respect- 
ing- the registering, recording, enrolling, or licens- 
ing ships, or vessels, and the entry and clearance 
thereof, and the foreign and coasting trade and 
fisheries, and all the acts respecting the imposing 
and collecting the duties on imports, and all the 
acts respecting trade and intercourse with the 
Indian tribes, and all the acts respecting the \>\\h- 
lie lands, or the survey or sale thereof, and all and 
singular the other acts of Congress of a public and 
general character, and the provisions whereof are 
suitable and proper to be ajjplied to the territory 
West of the l\io del Norte, acquired from Mexico 
by the treaty of the second day of February, 
18J8, be, and the same are hereby, extended 
over, and given full force and efficiency in 
all said territory; and the President of the 
United States is hereby authorized to prescribe 
aud establish all proper and needful rules aud re- 
gulations (in conformity with the Constitution of 
uie United States) for the enforcemeut of the pro- 
visions of the Constitution hereinbefore referred 
to, of said laws in said territory, and for the pre- 
servation of order and tranquillity, aud the es- 
tablishment of justice therein, and from tune 
to time to modify or change the said rules and 
regulations in such manner as may seem to him 
discreet and proper ; and to establish, tenipornrily, 
such divisions, districts, ports, offices, and all ar- 
rangements proper for the execution of said laws, 
and appoint and commi.ssiou such ofliccrs as may 
be necessary to administer such laws iu said ter- 
ritory, fur such term or terms as he may prescribe, 
whose authority shall continue until otherwise 
provided by Congress ; said officers to receive 
such compensation as the I'resident may prescribe, 
not e.vceeding double the compensation heretofore 
paid to similar officers of the United States or its 
territories, for like services ; and to enable the 
same to be done, the sum of two hundred thousand 
dollars be appropriated, out of any money iu the 
treasury not otherwise appropriated." 

YEAS — For Mr. Watlcefs proposition : 
Messrs. Atchison, Houston, 

Bell, Hunter, 



Berrien, 


Jtihnson of La. 


Borland, 


Johnson of Ga. 


Butler, 


King, 



Davis of Miss. 




Mangum, 


Dickinson, 




Mason, 


Dodge, Iowa, 




Kiisk, 


DoU;,r|,iH^ 




.Selmstian, 


Downs, 




Slurgoon, 


Filzgc'nild, 




Turner, 


Fitzpatrick, 




Underwood, 


Foote, Miss. 




Walker, 


Haunegan, 




Westcott, 


YulCKI 


-'J9. 




NAYS—AgaiiislMr. 


Walker's proposilion 


klessrs. Allen, 




F<-lch, 


Atherton, 




(iii'cnc, 


Bailger, 




JInle, 


Baldwin, 




Jliiniliii, 


Bra<lbury, 




tlojiiisoii, Md. 


Bright, 




.lones. 


Cameron, 




Mill.r, 


Clarke, 




Niles, 


Cor win. 




Peareo, 


Davis of Mass. 




Phelps, 


Dayton, 
DLx, 




.Spraance, 
IJpliam, 


Dodge, Wise. 




Wales, 


Webster-27. 





The Ijill being returned to the House, thus 
amended, this amendment was (Marcii 2d) 
voted down — Yeas 101 ; Nays ll.o — as fol- 
lows : 

Yeas, all the members from the Slave 
States, with the following from the Free 
States, viz. : 

Maine — Hezekiah Williams — 1. 

New York — Ausburn Birdsall — 1. 

PiNiNSVLVANiA — Samuel A. Bridges, Richard 
Brodhead, Charles Brown, Charles J. IngersoU, 
Lewis C. Levin — 5. 

Ohio — William Kennon, jr., William Sawyer 
—2. 

Illinois— Orlando B. Ficklin, John A. Mc- 
Clernand, William A. Kichurdsou — 3. 

Iowa Shepherd Leftier — 1. 

Total, thirteen from Free States ; eighty- 
eight from Slave States. (Oidy two from 
Slave States absent or silent.) 

Nays, all the Whigs from Free States, 
and all the Democrats from Free States, ex- 
cept those named above. 

So the House refused to concur in this 
amendment, and the bill was returned to the 
Senate accordingly. 

The Senate resolved to insist on its 
amendment, and ask a conference, which was 
granted, but resulted in nothing. Messrs. 
Atherton of N. H., Dickinson of N. Y., 
aud Berrien of Ga., were managers on the 
part of the Senate, and insisted on its 
amendment, organizing the Territories with- 
out restriction as to Slavery. Messrs. Vin- 
ton of Ohio, Nicoll of N. Y., and Morehead 
of Ky., were appointed on the part of the 
House. These, after a long sitting, report- 
ed their inability to agree, and were dis- 
charged. 

The bill being now returned to the House, 
Mr. MeCleniand of III. moved that the 
House do recede from its disagreement ; Car- 
ried : Yeas 111 ; Nays lOG. 

Mr. Morehead of Ky. moved to amend 
so as to provide that nothing in this section 



52 



THf] STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



shall affect the question, as to the boundary 
of Texas. Carried : Yeas 187 ; Nays 
19. 

Mr. K. W. Thompson of Ind. moved that 
the House concur with the Senate, with an 
anienchneiit, which was a substitute, extend- 
ing tlie hiws of the United States over said 
Territories, but leaving them unorganized, 
as follows : 

" That the rresitleut of the Uniled States be, 
and he hereby is, authorized to hold iiossessiou of 
aud occupy the Territories ceded by Mexico to 
the United States, by the treaty of the 2iid of Feb., 
eighteen hundred and forty-eight, aud that he be, 
and hereby is, authorized for that purpose, and in 
order to maintain the authority of the United 
Stales, and preserve peace and order in said Ter- 
tory, to employ such parts of tlie army and navy 
of tlic United States as he may deem necessary^ 
and that the Constitution of the United States, so 
far as the same is applicable, be extended over 
said Territories. 

"Sec. 2nd. And be it further enacted, That, 
until the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred 
aud fifty, unless Congress shall sooner provide 
for the government of said Territories, the exist- 
ijig laws thereof shall he retained and observed, 
and that the civil and judicial authority hereto 
fore e.\ercised in said Territories shall be vested 
in, and exercised by, such person or persons as 
the President of the United States shall appoint 
aud direct, to the end that the inhabitants of said 
Territories may be protected in the full and free 
enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion: 
provided, nevertheless, that martial law shall not 
be proclaimed or declared in said Territories, or 
either of them, nor any military court established 
or instituted, except ordinary courts-martial for 
the trial of persons belonging to the army and 
navy of the United States ; and the imprisonment 
of any citizen of said Territories for debt is here- 
by forbidden. 

'" Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That, to 
enable the President to carry into execution the 
provisions of this act, the sum of two hundred 
thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of 
any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro- 
priated." 

Tlie question being reached on amending 
the Senate's proposition as proposed by Mr. 
Thompson, it was carried : Yeas 111; Nays 
105. 

[All the Southern Members in the nega- 
tive, with Levin and a few of the Northern 
Democrats ; the residue with all the North- 
ern Wliigs ill the atlRrmative.] 

'I'he House now proceeded to agree to the 
Senate's amendment, «.s amended ; Yeas 
110 ; Nays 103, [the same as before ; the 
friends of the Senate's proposition voting 
against it, as amended, and vice versa, on 
the understanding that Mr. Thompson's 
amendment would exclude Slavery.] 

The bill as thus amended being returned 
to the Senate, it refused to agree to the 
House's amendment, and receded from its 
own proposition ; so the bill was pa.ssed and 
the session closed, with no provision for 
the government of the newly-acquired Ter- 
ritories. 



XII. 



Aug. 6, 1846. — Mr. Douglas, from the 
Committee on Territories, reported to the 
House a bill organizing the Territory of 
Oregon. 

Said bill was discussed in Committee of 
the AVhole, and the following amendment 
agreed to : 

" And neither Slavery, nor involuntary servi- 
tude shall ever exist in said Territory, except for 
crime >vhcreof the party shall have been duly- 
convicted." 

On coming out of Committee, this amend- 
ment was agreed to — Yeas 108 ; Nays 44. 
[The Nays are all Southern, but Charles J. 
Ingersoll, Orlando B. Ficklin, and possibly 
one or two others ; and all Democrats, but 
some half a dozen from the South, of whom 
Robert Toombs has since turned Democrat.] 
Stephen A. Douglas did not vote. The bill 
pas.sed the House without further opposition, 
wivs read twice in the Senate, and referred ; 
and Mr. Westcott of Florida made a report 
thereon from the Committee on Territories ; 
but the Session closed without further action 
on the bill. 



This Congress reassembled, Dec. 7th, 
184G. On tiie 23d, Mr. Douglas a^ain re- 
ported his bill to provide a territorial gOY- 
ernment for Oregon, which was read twice 
and committed : Jan. 11th, 1847, was dis- 
cussed in Committee, as also on the 12th 
and 14th, when it was resolved to close the 
debate. On the 15th, it was taken out of 
Committee, when Gen. Burt of S. C. moved 
the following addition (already moved, de- 
bated, and voted down in Committee) to 
the clause forbidding Slavery in said Terri- 
tory : 

" Inasmuch as the whole of said Territory lie.s 
north of thirty six degrees thirty minutes north 
latitude, known as the line of the Missouri Com- 
promise." 

The purpose of this is clear enough. It 
was intended to recognize the Missouri line, 
not as limited to the territories possessed 
by the United States at the time said line 
was established, but as extending to all 
that had since been, or hereafter should be, 
acquired, so as to legalize Slavery in any 
territory henceforth to be acquired by us 
south of 36» 30'. 

Mr. Burt's amendment was negatived — 
Yeas 82; Nays 114. 

The vote was very nearly sectional ; but 
the following Members from Free States 
voted in the minority : 

Pennsylvania. — Charles J. Ingersoll — 1. 
Illinois — Stephen A. Douglas, liobt. Smith — 2. 
Iowa. — S. C. Hastings — 1. 

In all, 5. 

No Member from a Slave State voted ia 



OREGON. 



53 



the majority. Tlio hill then passed — Yeas 
134 ; Nays 3J (all Soiitlieni). 

Jan. IfHh.— The bill reached the Senate, 
and was sent to the Judiciary Committee, 
consisting of 

Messrs. Ashley, Ark. I?crrion, On. 

Brccse, 111. Dayton, N. J. 

Westcott, Fin. 

Jan. 25. — Mr. Ashley reported the Oregon 
bill with amendments, which were ordci'ed to 
be printed. 

2y//(. — Said bill, on motion of Mr. West- 
cott, was recommitted to the Judiciary Com- 
mittet;. 

Feb. \Qtft. — Mr. Ashley again reported it 
with amendments. 

March ^d. — It was taken np as in Com- 
mittee of the AVhole, when Mr. Evans of 
Me. moved that it be laid on the table. 
Defeated— Yeas 19, (all Whigs but Cal- 
houn of S. C, and Yulee of Florida) ; Nays 
26 ; (24 Dem., with Corwin of Ohio, and 
Johnson of La.). 

Mr. Westcott of Fla. immediately moved 
that the bill do lie on the table, which pre- 
vailed — Yeas 2G ; Nays 18, (a mi.xed vote, 
evidently governed by various motives) ; but 
tlie negatives were all Democrats, but Cor- 
win and Johnson aforesaid. This being the 
last day of the session, it was evident that 
the bill, if opposed, as it was certain to be, 
could not get through, and it was, doubtless, 
in behalf of other pressing business that many 
Senators voted to lay this aside. It was, of 
course, dead for the session. 



Dec. 6tk, 1847.— The XXXth Congress as- 
sembled ; Robert C. Winthrop (Whig) of 
Mass. was chosen Speaker of the House. 
President Polk, in his Annual Message, re- 
gretted that Oregon had not already been 
organized, and urged the necessity of action 
on the subject. 

Feb. OUi.—Mt. Caleb B. Smith of Indiana 
reported to the House a bill to establish the 
territorial government of Oregon .; which, by 
a vote of two-thirds, was made a special or- 
der for March 14th. It was postponed, 
however, to the 28th ; when it was taken up 
and discussed, as on one or two subsequent 
days. Mai/ 29th, it was again made a spe- 
cial order next after the Appropriation bills. 
The President that day sent a special mes- 
sage, urging action on this subject. July 
2oth, it was taken up in earnest ; Mr. 
"Wentworth of Illinois rao\'ing that debate 
on it in Committee cease at two o'clock 
this day. 

Mr. Geo. S. Houston of Ala. endeav- 
ored to put this motion on the table. De- 
feated—Yeas 85 ; Nays 89. (nearly, but 
not fully, a sectional division). Mr. Geo. 
W. Jones of Teun. moved a reconsidera- 
tion, which was carried — Yeas 100; Nays 
88 ; and the resolution laid on the table — 
Yeas 96 ; Nays 90. 



The bill continued to bo discussed, and 
fiMally ( Aug. 1 st) wus got out of Connnittce ; 
when Mr. (J. H. Swiitli moved the Previous 
Question thereon, which was ordered. 

August 2d. — The House came to u vote 
on an anu'iidnient made in Committee, where- 
by the following jjrovision of the original 
bill was stricken out : 

" That tlic iiilwiliitniits of said Territory Khnll 
bo piililled to enjoy, all and sinKular, Iho ri^^htH, 
])rivilefjeH, and advantaf^'es tfinntod and w<-urod 
to llu' |K;nplc of tlio Territory of tins Uniloil Slates 
northwost of the river Ohio, by the artielcs of 
eonipaet contained in the ordinance for the U"v- 
ernnient of said Territory, passed tlie 13th day 
of .luly. seventeen hundred and eij^lily seven ; 
anil shall bo Hiibjcef to all the conditions, and re- 
strictions, and prohibitions in said uriie.lesof eom- 
paet imposed upon Iho jwoplo of said territory 
and — " 

'J'he House refused to agree to this amend- 
ment — Yeas 88 ; Nays 114. 

The Memliers from the Free States who 
voted with the South to strike out, were — 

NkwYokk — Ausburn Birdsall — 1. 

Ohio— William Kenuoii, jr., John K. Mil- 
ler— L>. 

Illinois — Orlando B. Fieklin, John A. Mc- 
demand, William A. Kichnrdson — 3. 

Indiana — John L. Robinson, William W. 
Wiek— 2. 

Mr. John W. Houston of Delaware voted ia 
the majority. 

The bill was then passed : Yeas 128 ; 
Naj-s 71. 

[This vote was almost completely section- 
al. Mr. Houston of Delaware voting in 
the majority as before : otherwise, Mem- 
bers from Free States in the affirmative; 
those from Slave States in the negative.] 

Aug. 3rd. — This bill reached the Senate, 
when Mr. Badger of N. C. moved its inde- 
finite postponement : negatived, 47 to 1, 
(Yulee). It was then sent to the Committee 
on Territories. 

The Senate had had under consideration, 
from time to time through the Session, a bill 
of its own, reported by Mr. Douglas, which 
was finally rel'erred to a Select Committee — 
Mr. Clayton of Delaware. Chairman — and 
by said committee reported some days before 
the reception of the House bill. It was 
then dropped. 

Aug. 5th. — Mr. Douglas reported the 
House Bill, with amendments, which were 
printed. 

Aug. 10th. — After some days' debate, the 
Senate proceeded to vote. Mr. Foote of 
Miss, moved that the bill do lie on the 
table. Defeated : Yeas 15 (Southern) ; 
Nays 36. 

On the question of agreeing to this 
amendment : 

" Inasmueb as the said Territory is north of 
thirty -six dog. thirty min., usually knowii as the 
[line of the] Missouri Compromise." 

It was rejected : Yeas 2 (Bright and 
Douglas) ; Nays 52. 



5i 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



Mr. DouglavS moved to amend the bill, by 
inserting after the word " enacted " : 

" Tlint the line of thirty-six degrees and thirty 
minutes of north latitude, known as the Missouri 
Compromise line, as defined iu the eighth section 
of an act entitled, ' An Act to authorize the jjeo- 
pie of the Missouri Territory to form a Constitu- 
tional and State Government, and for the admis- 
sion of sueh State into the Union, oti an equal 
footing with the origjinal States, and to proliibit 
Slaverv in certain Territories, approved March 
6th, 18:^0,' be. and the same is hereby, declared to 
extend to the Pacific Ocean ; and the said eighth 
section, together %vith the compromise therein 
effected, is hereby revived, and declared to be in 
full force and binding, for tlie future organiza- 
tion of the Territories of the United States in the 
same sense, and with the same understanding 
with which it was originally adopted ; and — " 

carried — Yeas 33 ; Nays 21 



"Which was 
— as follows : 

YEAS — For recognizing 
as rightfuUt/ extending 

Messrs. Atchison, 
Badger, 
Bell, 
Benton, 
Berrien, 
Borland, 
Bright, 
Butler, 
Calhoun, 
Cameron, 
Davis of Miss., 
Dickinson, 
Douglas, 
Downs, 
Fitzgerald, 
Foote of Miss., 

Underwood- 



the Mis'fouri line 
to the Pacific : 

Hannegan, 
Houston, 
Hunter, 

Johnson of Md., 
Johnson of La., 
Johnson of Ga., 
King, 
Lewis, 
Man gum, 
Mason, 
Metcalf, 
Pearee, 
Sebastian , 
Spruance, 
Sturgeon, 
Turney, 
-33. ^ 



NAYS — Against recognizing suid line: 

Messrs. Allen, Dodge, 

Atherton, FelcB, 

Baldwin, Greene, 

Bradbury, Hale, 

Breese, Hamlin, 

Clarke, Miller, 

Corwin, Niles, 

Davis of Mass., Phelps, 

Dayton, Upham, 

Dix, Walker, 
Webster— 21. 

The bill was then engrossed for a third 
reading : Yeas 33 ; Nays 22 (nearly same 
as the above — AVestcott of Florida, added 
to the Nays — and thus passed). 

Aiig. llth. — The bill, thus amended, having 
been returned to the House, the amendment 
of Mr. Douglas, iust recited, was rejected : 
Yeas 82 ; Nays 121. 

Yeas from Free States : 

New York — Ausburn Birdsall — 1. 

Pennsylvania — Charles Brown, Chai-les J. 
IngersoU. — 2. 

Total— 3. 

Otherwi.<?e, from Slave States, all Yeas ; 
from Free States, all Nays. 

Aug. Villi. — Tlio Senate, after voting 
down various propositions to lay on the 
table, etc., finally decided to recede from its 
amendments to the Oregan bill, and pass it 



as it came from the House ; 
25, as follows : 



Yeas 29; Nays 



YEAS— For Receding: 

Douglas, 

Fetch , 

Fitzgerald, 

Greene, 

Hale, 

Hamlin, 

Hannegan, 

Houston, 

Miller, 

Niles, 

Phelps, 



Messrs. Allen, 

Baldwin, 

Benton, 

Bradbury, 

Breeze, 

Bright, 

Cameron, 

Clarke, 

Corwin, 

Davis of Mass., 

Dayton, 

Dickinson, 

Dix, 

Dodge, 

Webster— 29 



Spruance, 

Upham, 

Walker, 



NAYS — Against Receding : 

Messrs. Atchison, Johnson of La., 

Badger, Johnson of Ga., 

Bell, Lewis, 

BciTien, Mangum, 

Borland, Mason, 

Butler, Metcalf, 

Calhoun, Pearee, 

Davis of Miss., Eu.sk, 

Downs, Sebastian, 

Foote, Turney, 

Hunter, Underwood, 

Johnson of Md., Weetcott, 
Yulee— 25. 
(All from Slave States.) 

So the bill became a law, and Oregon a 
Territory, under the original Jetferson or 
Dane Proviso against Slavery. 

xni. 

THE COMPROMISE OP 1850. 

The XXXIst Congress commenced its 
first Session at Washington, Dec. 3d, 1849 ; 
but the House was unable to organize — no 
person receiving a majority of all the votes 
for Speaker — until the 22nd, when, the Plu- 
rality rule having been adopted by a vote 
of 113 to lOG, Mr. Howell Cobb of Ga. was 
elected, having 102 votes to 100 for Robert 
0. Winthrop of Mass., and 20 scattering. 
It M-as thereupon resolved — Yeas 149; 
Nays 35 — " That Howell Cobb be declared 
duly elected Speaker ;" and on the 24th 
President Zaehary Taylor transmitted to 
both Houses his first Annual Message, in 
the course of which he says : 

" No civil government having been provided 
by Congress for California, the people of that 
Territory, impelled by the necessities of their 
political condition, recently met in Convention, 
for the purpose of forming a Constitution and 
State Government ; which, the latest advices give 
me reason to suppose, has been accomplished ; 
and it is believed they will shortly ajiply for the 
admission of California into the Union, as a 
Sovereign State. Should such be the case, and 
sliould their constitution be conformable to tho 
requisitions of the Constitution of the United 
States, I i-ecommend their application to the fa- 
vorable consideration of Congress. 

" The people of New-Mexico will also, it is 
believed, at no very di.«tant period, present them- 
selves for admission into the Union. Preparatory 
to tho admission of California and Now-Mexieo, 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 



56 



the people of ench will have insfituted for tliem- 
Belvc's n republican form of poveriimont, layiii;; 
its fonmlatioii in mucIi prini-ipicw, and orjjunizin},' 
its piiwir in nucli t'orni. aw to llii'ni kIiuII secni 
most Idiciy l<> olVi'ct tlioir safely and iiai)pinef». 
" liy awaitin;,' their aetinn, all causes of un- 
easiness may bo avoided and confidence and 
kind feelini,'" preserved. With a view of nniin 
tainiii^r the liarmony and tranipiillity so dear to 
all, we should abstain from the introduction of 
those oxcitin;; topics of a sectional I'liaractcr 
which have hitherto produced pniid'ul apprehen- 
sions in the public miini ; and 1 repeat the solemn 
warnin;^ of the tirsl and most illustrious of my 
predecessors, a;;fainst furnishin<^ any |[;;round for 
charactorizinjj parlies by geographical discri- 
minations." 

Jan. it/i. — Goii. Sam. Houston of Texas 
submitted to the Senate the lullowiug pro- 
position : 

" " IVhereas, The Congress of the United States, 
possessing only a delegated authority, have no 
power over the subject of Negro Slavery witliin 
the limits of the United States, eitiicr to prohibit 
or interfere willi it, in the States, Territories, or 
District, wliere, by muni(Mpal law, it now exists, 
or to establish it in nny State or Territory where 
it does not e.\ist ; but, as nil assurance and {^ua. 
rnntee to promote harmony, quiet apprehension, 
and remove sectional prejudice, which by possi- 
bility might inii)air or weaken love and devotion 
to the Union iii any part of the country, it is 
hereby 

'' Rcsoh-c<}, That, as the people in Territories 
have the same inherent rights of self government 
as the people in the States, if, in the exercise of 
such inherent rights, the people in the newly- 
acquired Territories, by the Annexation of Texas 
and the acquisition of California and New-Mexico, 
south of the parallel of 36 degrees and 30 minutes 
of north latitude, extending to the Pacific Ocean, 
shall establish Negro Slavery in the funnntion of 
their state governments, it shall be deemed no 
objection to their admission as a State or States 
into the Union, in accordance with the Constitu- 
tion of the United States." 

Jan. 2lst. — Gen. Taylor, in answer to a 
resolution of inquiry, sent a message to the 
House, stating that he had urged the forma- 
tion of State Governments in California and 
New-Moxico. He adds : 

" 111 advising an early application by the 
people of these Territories for admission as States, 
I was actuated principally by an earnest desire 
to atford to the wisdom and patriotism of Con- 
gress the opportunity of avoiding occasions of 
hitter and angry discussions among the people 
of the United States. 

" Under the Constitution, every State has the 
right to establish, and, from time to time, alter 
its municipal laws and domestic institutions, in- 
dependently of every other State and of the 
General Government, subject only to the prohi- 
bitions and guarantees expressly set forth in the 
Constitution of the United States. The subjects 
thus left exclusively to the respective Stiites, 
■were not designed or expected to oecome topics 
of National agitation. Still as, under the Consti- 
tution, Coiigi'ess has power to make all needful 
rules and regulations respecting the Territories 
of the United States, every new acquisition of 
territory has led to discussi<iiis on the question 
whether the system of involuntary servitude, 
whiidi prevails in many of the Slates, should or 
Bhould not be prohibited in that Territory. The 

Eeriods of excitement from this cause, which 
ave heretofore occurred, have been safely 
passed; but, during tho interval, of whatever 



length, which may clapRO before the admission 
of the Territories ceded by Me.\ioo, us SlatoH, it 
appears |)r(d>ablo that siinilur excitement will 
prevail to an unduir extent. 

" Under these circumstances, I thought, ond 
still thiidi, that it was my duty to endeavor to 
])ut il in the power of Con^^ress.by the admimiion 
of California and New-Mexico as Stales, to re- 
move all occasion for the uuiieceHsary agitation 
of the public mind. 

" It is understood that the |)eople of the Western 
part of California have formed the i)lan of a State 
Constitution, and will soiui submit Ihe same to 
the judgment of (congress, and apply for admis- 
sion as a State. This course on their purl, though 
in accordinice with, was not adopted exclusively 
in c<ins(>(iiience of any expression of my wishes, 
inasmuch as measures tending to this end had 
been ])roinoted by oHicers sent there by my pre- 
decessor, and were already in active progress of 
execution, before any communication from me 
reached California. If the proposed constitution 
shall, wlieii submitted to Congress, be fouml to 
bo in compliance with the requisitions of the 
Constitution of the United States, I earnestly 
recommend that it may receive the sanction of 
Congress." 

He adds — 

" Should Congress, when California shall pre- 
sent herself for incorporation into the Union, 
annex a condition to her admission ns a State 
affecting her domestic institutions contrary to 
the wishes of her peojile, and even compel her 
temporarily to comply with it, yet the State could 
change her constitution at any time after admis- 
sion, when to her it should seem expedient. Any 
attempt to deny to the people of the State the 
right of sclfgovernment, in a matter which pecu- 
liarly alfects themselves, will infallibly be re- 
garded by them as an invasion of their rights ; 
and, upon the priiiciiiles laid down in our own 
Ueclaiation of Independenee, they will certainly 
bo sustaiiiecl by the great mass of the American 
people. To assert that they are a conquered 
people, and must, as a State, submit to the will of 
their conquerors, in this regard, will meet with no 
cordial response among American freemen. Great 
numbers of them are native citizens of the United 
States, and not inferior to the rest of our country- 
men in intelligence and patriotism ; and no lan- 
guage of menace to restrain them in the exercise of 
an undoubted right, substantially guarantied to 
them by the treaty of cession itself, shall ever be 
uttered by me, or encouraged and sustained by 
person.s acting under my authority. It is to be 
expected that, in the residue of the territory ceded 
to us by Mexico, the people residing there will, at 
the time of their incorporation into the Union as a 
State, settle all questions of domestic policy to 
suit themselves." 

Feb. 13, 1850. — Gen. Taylor coniinuni- 
eated to Congress the Constitution (free) of 
the State of California. 

Jan. 20th, 18:j0.— Mr. Henry Clay of Ky. 
submitted to the Senate the tollowiiig pro- 
positions, which were made a special order 
and printed : 

" 1. Resolved, That California, with suitable 
boundaries, ought, upon her application, to be ati- 
mitted as one of the States of this Union, without 
Uio inqxisition by Congress of any restriclion in 
respect to the exi-lusioii or introduction of Slavery 
within those boundaries. 

" '2. Resolved, That as Slavery does not exist by 
law, and is not likely to be introduced into any of 
the territory acquireil by the United States from the 
1^'publie of Mexico, it is inexpedient tor Congress 
to provide by law either for its iutroduciiou into, 



56 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



or exclusion from, any part of the said territory ; 
and tluit aiiin-opriate territorial governments ought 
to bo (si.iblislnd liy Congress in all the said ter- 
ritdiv, noi Mssii;nt.d as within the boundaries 
of ilie proiMised Slate of California, without the 
adopiiou of any restriction or condition on the 
subject of Slavery. ,-,.,, 

'■ 3. liesolvcd, That the western boundary ot the 
State of Texas ought to be fixed on Iheliio del 
Norle, oonimenciiig one marine league from its 
moutli, and running up that river to the southern 
line of Xe\v-5Ie.\ico ; thence with that line east- 
wardlv, and so conlinunig in the same direction 
to the line as established between the United 
States and Spain, excluding any portion of New- 
Mexico, whether lying on the east or west of that 

" 4. Eatolrrd. That it be proposed to the State 
of Texas, that the United States will provide for 
the payment of all that portion of the legitimate 
and bJ/ia //,/<■ public debt of that State contracted 
prior to it's annexation to the United States, and 
for whi('h the duties on foreign imports were 
pledged by the said State to its creditors, not 
exceeding the sum of dollars, in consider- 
ation of the said duties so pledged having been no 
longer appli( able to that object after the said an- 
nexation, but having thenceforward become pay- 
able to the United States ; and upon the condition, 
also, that the .-aid Mate of Texas shall, by some 
solemn and authentic act of her legislature, or ol a 
convention, relinquish to die United States any 
claim which she has to any part of New-Mexico. 

" 5. Kesolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish 
Slavery in the District of Columbia whilst that 
institution continues to exist in the State of Mary- 
land, without the consent ot that State, without 
the consent of the people of the District, and 
without just compensation to the owners of Slaves 
within tlie District. 

" (5. But Resolved, that it is expedient to pro- 
hibit, within the District, the slave trade in slaves 
brought into it from States or places beyond the 
limits' of tlie District, either to be sold therein as 
merchandise, or to be transported to other markets 
without the District of Columbia. 

"7. Resolved, That more efl'cctual provision 
ought to be made by law, according to the re- 
quirement of the Constitution, for the restitution 
and delivery of persons bound to service or labor 
in any State, who may escape into any other State 
or Terriiory in the Union. And, 

"8. AV.so/;r'?, That Congress has no power to 

' prohibit or obstruct the trade in slaves between 

the Slaveholding States, but that the admission 

1 or exclusion of Slaves brought from one into 

( another of them, depends exclusively upon then- 

own particular laws." 

Feb. 28?/i.— Mr. John Bell of Teun. sub- 
mitted to the Senate the following propo- 
sitions : 

" Whcreax, Considerations of the highest inter- 
est to the whole country demand that the existing 
and increasing dissensions between the North and 
the South, on the subject of Slavery, should be 
speedily arrested, and that the questions in con- 
troversy be adjusted upon some basis which shall 
tend to give present quiet, repress sectional ani- 
mosities, remove, as far as possible, the causes 
of future discord, and secure the uninterrupted 
enjoyment of those benefits and advantages which 
tlie tJnii>n was intended to confer in equal measure 
upon all its members; 

" And. vkcicfis. It is manifest, under present 
circumstances, that no adjustment can be effected 
of the points of diiferencc unhappily existing be-, 
twecn the Northern and Southern sections ot the 
Union, connected with the subject of Slavery, 
which shall secure to either section all that is con- 



tended for, and that mutual concessions upon 
questions of mere policy, not involving the viola- 
tion of any constitutional right or principle, must 
be the basis of every project affording any assur- 
ance of a favorable acceptance ; 

" And, icliereas. The joint resolution for an- 
nexing Texas to the United States, approved 
March 1, 181.3, contains the following condi- 
tion and guarantee— that is to say : _' New States 
of convenient size, not exceeding four in num- 
ber, in addition to said State of Texas, and having 
sufficient population, may hereafter, by the con- 
sent of said State, be formed out of the territory 
thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under 
the provisions of the Federal Constitution ; and 
such States as may be formed out of that portion 
of said territory lying south of thirty-six degrees 
thirty minutes north latitude, commonly known 
as the Missouri Compromise line, shall be admit- 
ted into the Union with or without Slavery, as the 
peo)ile of each State asking admission may desire ; 
and ill such State or States as shall be formed out 
of said territory north of said Missouri Compro- 
mise line. Slavery, or involuntary servitude (ex- 
cept for crime), shall be prohibited:' Therefore, 

"1. Resolved, That the obligation to comply with 
the condition and guarantee above recited in 
good faith be distinctly recognized ; and that, in 
part compliance with the same, as soon as the 
people of Texas shall, by an act of their leg- 
islature, signify their assent by restricting the 
limits thereof, within the territory lying east of 
the Trinity and south of the Eed Kiver, and 
when the people of the residue of the territory 
claimed by Texas adopt a constitution, republi- 
can in form, they be admitted into the Union 
upon an equal footing in all respects with the ori- 
ginal States. 

"2. Resolved, That if Texas shall agree to 
cede, the United States will accept, a cession of 
all the unappropriated domain in all the terri- 
tory claimed by Texas, lying west of the Colorado 
and extending north to the forty-second parallel 
of north latitude, together with the jurisdiction 
and sovereignty of all the territory claimed by 
Texas, north of the thirty-fourth parallel of north 
latitude, and to pay therefor a sum not exceeding 
millions of dollars, to be applied in the 



first place to the extinguishment of any portion 
of the existing public debt of Te.xas, for the dis- 
charge of which the United States are under any 
obligation, implied or otherwise, and the remain- 
der as Texas shall require. . 

"3. Resolved, That when the population ot 
that portion of the territory claimed by Texas, 
lying south of the thirty-fourth parallel ot north 
latitude and west of the Colorado, shall be equal 
to the ratio of representation in Congress, under 
the last preceding apportionment, according to 
the provisions of the Constitution, and the people 
of such teiTitory shall, with the assent of the new 
State contejnplated in the preceding resolution, 
have adopted a State Constitution, republican in 
form, they be admitted into the Union as a State, 
upon an equal footing with the original States. 

"4. Resolved, That all the territory now- 
claimed by Texas, lying north of the thirty-fourth 
parallel of north latitude, and which may bo 
ceded to the United States by Texas, be incorpor- 
ated with the Territory of New-Mexico, except 
such part thereof as lies east ot the Ixio Grando 
and south of the thirty-fourth degree ot north 
latitude, and that the Territory so composed torm 
a State, to be admitted into the Union when the 
inhabitants thereof shall adopt a State Constitu- 
tion, republican in form, with the conseiit of Con- 
gress ; but, in the mean tune, and until tongiess 
shall give such consent, provision be ^V^^fJ^ 
the trovernmeut of the inhabitants ot said leiu- 
lory suitable to their condition, but without any 
resli-iction as to Slavery. 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 



5T 



" 5. Rcxo/rtd, That nil llio forritory coikHl to 
Ihc United Stiitcn, by tlif Trcnty of ('Jiiinlnlmipe 
llidalj^i), lyiiij; wi'st of Hiiid Territory of Nt!\v- 
Mcxici), (iiid cMst of the coiiloiiiplalcd new Stale 
ol" t'alil'ornia, lor llie prexeiit, eoiintitule one 'I'er- 
ritory, and for wliieli Home form of f^overnnient 
suitaljli! to tlic {condition of the inhaliitanlH bu 
provided, without any restriction nw to .Shivery. 

" ti. J{(\io/rc<l, Tliat tlio eonstitntion recently 
formed by the petiplo of the wewtern portion of 
California, an<l nrescntod to ('onf^reHS by the I're- 
fideiit on the l-'Uh day of February, 18;j(), bo nc- 
eoi)ted, andi that they be admitted into the Union 
as a State, upon an e<iual footing in nil respeuls 
witii the oritiiual States. 

"7. Rcsolrcd, Tliat, in future, the formation of 
State Constitutions, by the inhnbitants of the 
territories of the United Stalc.i, be re;,'ulated by 
law ; and th:it no siieli eon.slitutiou bu hereafter 
formed or adopted by tiie inhabitants of any Ter- 
ritory belon<;injjf to tlie United Slates, without 
the consent and authority of Con^jress. 

" 8. Jusu/rcil, That the inhaliitunts of any 
Territory of tlie United Stutes, when they shall 
bo nuthorized by C<<n<^rcss to form a State Con- 
stitution, shall have the sole and exclusive power 
to rei^ulale and adjust all questions of internal 
State policy, of whatever nature they may be, 
controlled only by the restrictions expressly 
imposed by tho Coustitutiou of the United 
States. 

" 9. Jicsolfct?, That the Committee on Terri- 
tories be instructed to report a bill in conformity 
with the spirit and principles of tlio foregoing re- 
solutions." 

A debate of unusual duration, earnestne.ss, 
and ability ensued, mainly on Mr. Clay's 
Resolutions. They wore rej^arded by uncom- 
promising- champions, whether of Xortheru 
or of Southern views, but especially of the 
latter, as conceding- substantially the matter 
in dispute to the other side. Thus, 

Jdii. 29///. — Mr. Clay having read and 
briefly commented on his propositions, seria- 
tim, he desired that they should be held 
over without debate, to give time for con- 
sideration, and made a special order for 
Monday or Tuesday following. But this 
was not assented to. 

Mr. Rusk rose at once to protest against 
that portion of them which called in ques- 
tion tho right of Texas to so much of New- 
Mexico as lies east of the Rio del Xorte. 
^ Mr. Foote of Miss, spoke against them 
generally, saying : 

" If I iindenstand the resolutions properly, they 
arc objectionable, as it seems to me, 

" 1. Because they only assert that it isnotexpe- 
dient that Congress should abolish Slavery in tho 
District of Columbia; thus allowing the implica- 
tion to arise that Congress has power to legislate 
on the subject of Slavery in tho District, which 
may hereafter be exercised, if it should become 
expedient to do so ; whereas, I hold that Con- 
gress has, under the Conslitutioii, no such power 
at all, and that any attempt thus to legislate would 
bo a gross fraud upon all the Slates of the Union. 

" '2. The Resolutions of tho honorable Senator 
assert that Slavery does not now exist by law in 
tho territories recently acquired from Me.xico -, 
whereas, I am of opinion that tho treaty with the 
Mexican republic carried tho Constitution, n-ith 
all ilx ^ninriiiitics, to all tho territory obtained by 
ti-caty, and secured the privilege to every South- 
ern slaveholder to enter any part of it, attended 



by his HlftVc-properfy, and to enjoy the eamo 
therein, frcu Ironi all molestation or hindrance 
whatsoever. 

■' •'. Whether Slavery is or is not likely to bo 
introduced into these territories, or into any of 
them, is a projuisilion too uncertain, in my judg- 
ment, to be at present positively aflirmcd ; and I 
am unwilling to uuikc a si.lemii legishitivo decla- 
ration on the )ioint. Lit the fitluii' provide Ihe 
(ippiuijirifitr not 11/ ion of lliia iii/rrc'tiiifr ijiUHtion. 

" •!• Considering, as I liiive several times here- 
tofore formally declared, the lill(! of Texas to all 
the territory embraccci in her boundaries, as laid 
down in her law of I.S:jti, full, coniplt-ie, and unde- 
niable, 1 am unwilling to say anything, by reso- 
lution or olherw-ise, which nuiy in the least de- 
gree draw that title into question, as I think is 
(lone in one of the i-esolutions of the honorable 
Senator from Kentucky. 

" .'>. I am, ui)on constitutionni and other 
grounds, wholly opposed to the principle of ax- 
sumin^ Slalv drl/Li, which 1 understand to bo 
embodied in one of the resolutions ot the hon- 
orable Senator from Kentucky. If Texan soil la 
to be bought, (and with certain appropriate safe- 
guards, I am dei-idedly in favor of it,) let us pay 
to the sovereign Stateof Texas the value thereof 
in mono}-, to be used by her as she pleases. It 
will be, as I think, more delicate and respectful 
to let her provide for the management of this 
matter, which is strictly domestic in its charac- 
ter, in such maimer as she may choose — presum- 
ing thnt she will act wisely, justly, and honorably 
toward all to whom she may be indebted. 

" (). As to the abolition of the slan-tradc in 
the District of Columbia. I see no particular ob- 
jection to it, provided it is done in a delicate and 
judicious manner, and is not n concession to the 
menaces and demands of factionists and fanatics. 
If other questions can be adjusted, this one will, 
perhaps, occasion but little ditHculty. 

" 7. The resolutions which provide for tho res- 
toration of fugitives from labor or service, and 
for the establishment of territorial governineuts, 
free from all restriction on the subject of Slavery, 
have my hearty aj)[iroval. The lust resolution — 
which asserts that Congress has no power to 
j)i-ohibit the trade in Slaves from State to State — 
I equally approve. 

" 8. If all other questions connected with the 
subject of Slavery can be satisfactorily adjusted, 
I can see noobjec-tion to admitting all California, 
above tho line of 3tj deg. 30 min., into the Union ; 
provided anotltcr new Slave State can be laid 
off within tlie present limits of 'J'exax, so as to 
keep the present equiponderance between the 
Slave and Free States of the Union ; and pro- 
vided further, all this is done by way of com- 
promise, and in order to save the Union, (as dear 
to me as to any man living.") 

Mr. Mason of Va., after expressing his 
deep anxiety to " go with him who went 
furthest, but within the limits of strict 
duty, in adjusting these unhappy dififer- 
ences," added : 

" Sir, so far ns I have read these resolutions, 
there is but oiio proposition to which I can give 
n hearty assent, and that is tho resolution which 
proposes to organize Territorial governments at 
once in these Territories, without a declaration 
one way or the other as to their domestic institu- 
tions. IJut there is another which I deeply regret 
to sec introduced into this Senate, by a Senator 
from a slaveholding State ; it is that which assumes 
that Slavorv docs not now exist by law in those 
countries. 1 understand one of these propositions 
to declare that, by law. Slavery is now nuolishod 
in New-Mexico and California. That was tho very 
proposition advanced by the non-sluveholding 



68 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION, 



States at the last session; combated and die- 

E roved, as I thought, by gentlemen from the slave- 
olding States, and which tlie Compromise bill 
was framed to tost. So far, I regarded the ques- 
tion of law as disposed of, and it was very clearly 
and satisfactorily shown to be against the spirit 
of the resolution of the Senator from Kentucky. 
If the contrary is true, I presume the Senator 
from Kentucky would declare that if a law is now 
valid in tlie Territories abolishing Slavery, that it 
could not be introduced there, even if a law was 
passed creating the institution, or repealing the 
statutes already existing ; a doctrine never as- 
sented to, so far as I know, until now, by any 
Senator representing one of the slaveholding 
States. Sir, I hold the very opposite, and with 
such confidence, that at the last session I was 
willing and did vote for a bill to test this question 
in the Supreme Court. Yet tliis resolution as- 
sumes the other doctrine to be true, and our assent 
is challenged to it as a proposition of law. 

" I do not mean to detain the Senate by any dis- 
cussion ; but I deemed it to bo my duty to enter a 
decided protest, on the part of Virginia, against 
such doctrines. They concede the wliole question 
at once, that our people shall not go into the new 
Territories and take their property with them ; a 
doctrine to which I never will assent, and for 
which, sir, no law can be found. There are other 
portions of the resolutions, for which, if they could 
l3e separated, I should be very willing to vote. 
That respecting fugitive slaves, and that respect- 
ing the organization of governments in these 
Territories, I should be willing to vote for ; and I 
am happy to declare the grafitication 1 experience 
at finding the Senator from Kentucky difteriiig so 
much, on this subject, from the Executive message 
recently laid before the Senate. I beg not to be 
understood as having spoken in any spirit of un- 
kindness towards the Senator from Kentucky, 
for whom I entertain the warmest and most pro- 
found respect : but I cannot but express also my 
regret that he has felt it to be his duty, standing 
as he does before this people, and representing 
the people he does, to introduce into this body 
resolutions of this kind." 

Mr. Jefferson Davis of Miss, (since and 
now Secretary of War) objected specially to 
so much of Mr. Clay's propceitious as relates 
to the boundary of Texas, to the Slave-trade 
in the Federal district, and to Mr. Clay's 
avowal in his speech that he did not believe 
Slavery ever would or could be established 
in any part of the territories acquired from 
Mexico. He continued : 

" But, sir, we are called upon to receive this as 
a measure of compromise ! As a measure in which 
we of the minority are to receive nothing. A 
measure of compromise ! I look upon it as but 
a modest mode of takmg that, the claim to which 
has been more boldly asserted by others ; and, 
that I may be understood upon this question, 
and that my position may go forth to the coun- 
try in the same columns that convey the senti- 
ments of the Senator from Kentucky, I here 
assert, that never will I take less than the Mis- 
Bouri Compromise line extended to the Pacific 
ocean, with the specific recognition of Uie right 
to hold slaves in the territory below that line ; 
and that, before such territories are admitted in- 
to the Union as States, slaves may bo taken there 
from any of the United States at the option of 
tlie owners. I can never consent to ^ive addi- 
tional power to a majority to commit further ag- 
gressions upon the minority in this Union ; and 
will never consent to any proposition whii^h 
will have such a tendency, wuiiout a full guar- 



anty or counteracting measui'e is connected with 
it." 

Mr. Clay in reply said : 

" I am extremely sorry to hear the Senator 
from Mississippi say that he requires, first, 
the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to 
the Pacific ; and also that he is not satisfied with 
that, but requires, if I understood him correctly, 
a positive provision for the admission of Slavery 
south of that line. And now, sir, coming from a 
Slave State, as I do, 1 owe it to myself, I owe it 
to truth, I owe it to the subject, to state that no 
earthly power could induce me to vote for a spe- 
cific measure for the introduction of Slavery 
where it tiad not before existed, either south or 
north of that line. Coming as I do from a Slave 
State, it is my solemn, deliberate, and well-ma- 
tured determination that no power — no earthly 
power — shall compel me to vote for the positive 
introduction of Slavery either south or north of 
that line. Sir, while you reproach, and justly, 
too, our British ancestors for the introduction of 
this institution upon the i ontinent of America, I 
am, for one, unwilling that the posterity of the 
present inhabitants of California and of New- 
Mexico shall reproach us for doing just what we 
reproach Great Britain for doing to us. If the 
citizens of those Territories choose to estab- 
lish Slavery, I am for admitting them with such 
provisions in their constitutions ; but then, it ■ 
will be their own work, and not ours, and their 
posterity will have to reproach them, and not us, 
for forming constitutions allowing the institU'. 
tion of Slavery to exist among them. These are 
my views, sir, and I choose to express them ; 
and I care not how extensively and universally 
they are known. The honorable Senator from 
Vu-giuia has expressed his opinion that Slavery 
exists in these Territories, and I have no doubt 
that opinion is sincerely and honestly entertained 
by him ; and I would say with equal sincerity and 
honesty, that I believe that Slavery nowhere 
exists within any portion of the Territory ac- 
quired by us from Mexico. He holds a directly 
contrary opinion to mine, as he has a perfect 
right to do ; and we will not quarrel about that 
diti'erence of opinion." 

Mr. William R. King of Ala. was in- 
clined to look with favor on Mr. Clay's pro- 
positions, and assented to some of them ; but 
he objected to the mode in which California 
had formed what is called a State Constitu- 
tion. He preferred the good old way of first 
organizing Territories, and so training up 
their people "for the exercise and enjoy- 
ment of our institutions." Besides, he , 
thought " there was not that kind of popu- 
lation there that justified the formation of a 
State Government." On the question of 
Slavery in the new Territories, he said : 

"With regard to the opinions of honorable 
Senators, respecting the operation of the laws of 
Mexico in our newly-acquired territories, there 
may be, and no doubt is, an honest diflerence of 
opinion with regard to that matter. Some believe 
that the municipal institutions of Mexico over- 
rule the provisions of our Constitution, and pre- 
vent us from carrying our slaves there. That is 
a matter which I do not propose to discuss ; it has 
been discussed at length in the debate upon the 
Compromise bill, putting it on the ground of a 
judicial decision. Sir, 1 know not— nor is it, a 
matter of much importance with me— whether 
that which the honorable Senator states to be a 
fact, and which, as has been remarked by the 
Senator from Mississippi, can only be conjectural, 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 



59 



be in rcalilv so or not — tlint Slavery never cnn po 
there. Tins is what is utiileil, however. Well, 
be it so. It' slave labor be not jirolitable there, 
it will not go there; or, if it po, who will be 
beneliteil / Not the South. The)' will never 
compel it to (jo there. We are misunderstood — 
pjrossly, I may say — by honorable ^Senators, 
thoii-h not intentionally ;'but we are eonlendiiif,' 
for a i(riiiei|)le, and a jjn'at i>riMcii)lt — a prineiple 
Iviny at the very foundation of our eonstitutioual 
rlj^dits — invtdviu},', as has been rennirkvd, our 
property ; in one word, involvint; our sal'ety, our 
Loiior, all that is dear to us, as Aineri(^an free 
men. Well, sir, for that principle we will bo com- 
jielled to eontend to the utmost, and to resist a;^- 

fression at CAery hazard and at every sacrifice, 
'hat is the position in which we are placed, ^\'e 
nsk no act of t'ou'^'icss — as has been properly in- 
timated by the Senator from Mississippi — to carry 
Slavery ariywiicre. Sir, I believe wo have as 
nuieh constitutional power to prohibit Slavery 
from goinjf into the territories of (ho Unile<l 
States, us we have to pass an act carrying Slave- 
ry there. ^ye^ll;l^:i'.lI,ll_l•ii;l^t todo either the one 
or the other. ' JLwould as soon voreTbTllTD"\Vil- 
mot Proviso as I would vote for any lawvrhieh 
rciiuireil that Slavery should gii into any of the 
Territories." 

Mr. Downs of Louisiana said : 

" I must confess that, in tlie whole course of 
my life, my astonishment has never been greater 
than it was when I saw this [!\[r. Clay's] pro- 

i)08itiou brought forward as a compromise; and 
rise now, sir, not for the purpose of discussing 
it at all, but to protest most solemnly against it. 
I consider this compromise as no compromise at 
all. What, SM-, does it grant to the South ? I 
can see noliiing at all. The lirst resolution offer- 
ed by the honorable Senator proposers to admit 
the State of California with a provision prohibit- 
ing Slavery in territm-y which embraces all our 
jiossessions on the Pacific. It is true, there may 
bo a new regulation of the boundary hereafter ; 
but, if there were to bo such a regulation, why 
was it not enibraced in this resolution ? As no 
boundary is mentioned, we have a right to pre- 
sume that the boundary established by the Con- 
stitution of California was to be received as the 
established boundary. What concession, then, 
is it from the North, that wo admit a State thus 
prohibiting Slavery, embracing the whole of our 
possessions on the Pacific coast, according to 
these resolutions ? As to the resolution relating 
to New-iMexico and Deseret, if it had simply con- 
tained the provision that a constitutional govern- 
ment shall be established there, without any 
mention of Slavery whatever, it would have been 
well enough. 15ut, uiasnmcli as it is aflirmed that 
Slavery does not now exist in these Territories, 
does it not absolutely preclude its admission 
there ? and the resolutions might just as well 
affirm that Slavery should be prohibited in these 
Territories. The Senator from Alabama, if I un- 
derstood him aright, maintains that the proposi- 
tion is of the same impcu't as the Wilmot Pro- 
viso ; and, in view of these facts, I would ask, 
is there anything conceded to us of the South 1" 

Mr. Butler of South Carolina said : 

" Perhaps our Northern brethren ought to un- 
derstand that ill! the Compromises that have been 
made, have been by concessions — acknowledged 
I concessions — on the part of the South. When 
' otJier compromises are proposed, that require 
new concessions on their part, whilst none are 
exacted on the other, the issue, at least, should be 
presenteil for their consideration before they 
come to the decision of their great question. If 
1 understand it, the Senator from Kentucky's 
wliole propositiou of compromise it) aothijig more 



than this: That California i.s olrcndy disponed of, 
having formed ii State Constitution, and that 
'I'erritorial (iovernments shall be organized for 
Deseret and New Mi'.\ico, under which, by tlio 
operation of laws already existing, u slaveliold- 
ing population could not carry with them, or ovra 
slaves there. What is there in the nature of a 
comiiromise here, coupled, as it is. with tln^ pro- 
po.siiidii that, by the existing laws in the Terri- 
tories, it is allno.'-t certain that slavelndders can- 
not, and have no right to, go there with their 
property ! \Vliat is there in the nature of a eoin- 
i>romise here ? I am willing, howe\er, to runtho 
risks, and am ready to give to the Tj'rritories the 
governments they require. I shall always think 
that, under a constitution gi\iiig eiiiial "rights to 
all parties, the slaveholding people, us such, can 
go to these Territories, and retain their property 
there. Put, if we adopt this proposition of the 
Senator from Kentucky, it is clearly on the basis 
that Slavery shall not go there. 

" I do not understand the Senator from MissU- 
sippi (Mr. Davis) to maintain the proposition, 
that the South asked or desired a law declaring 
that Slavery should go there, or that it maintained 
the policy even that it was the duty of Congress 
to pass such a law. We have only asked, and it 
is the only com])roinise to which we will submit, 
that Congress sliidl withhold the hand of violence 
trom the Territories. The only way in which 
this question can bo settled is, for gentlemen 
from the North to withdraw all their opposition 
to the Territorial Governments, and not insist on 
their Slavery Prohibition. The Union is then 
safe enough. Why, then, insist on a compromi.-ic, 
when those already made are sufficient for the 
peace of the North and South, if faithfully ob- 
served ? These propositions are in the name of 
a compromise, wlieu none is necessary." 

The debate having engrossed the attention 
of the Senate for nearly two months — 

March 2i)th. — Mr. Douglas, from the Com- 
niittee on Territories, reported the following 
bills : 

Senate, 1G9.— A bill for the admission of Cali- 
fornia into the Union. 

Senate, 170.— A bill to establish the Territorial 
Governments of Utah and New-Mexico, and for 
other purposes. 

These bills were read, and passed to a 
second reading. 

April Wth. — Mr. Douglas moved that Mr. 
Bell's resolves do lie on the table. Lost : 
Yeas 26 ; Nays 28. 

April loth. — The discussion of Mr. Clay's 
resolutions still proceeding, Colonel Benton 
moved that the previous orders be postponed, 
and that the Senate now proceed to con- 
sider the bill (S. 169) for the admission of 
the State of California. 

Mr. Clay moved that this proposition do 
lie on the table. Carried : Yeas 27 (for a 
Compromise) ; Nays 24 (for a settlement 
without compromise). 

The Senate now took up Mr. Bell's re- 
solves aforesaid, when Mr. Benton moved 
that they lie on the table. Lost : Yeas 24 ; 
Nays 28. 

Mr. Benton ne.xt moved that they be so 
amended as not to connect or mix up the 
admission of California with any other 
question. Lost : Yeas 23 ; Nays 28. 



60 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



Various modifications of the generic idea 
were severally voted down, generally by large 
majorities. 

On motion of Mr. Foote of Miss., it was 
now 

" Ordered, That the resolution submitted by 
Mr. Bell ou the 'J8th February, together with the 
resolutions submitted on the 29th of January by 
Mr. Clay, be referred to a Select Committee of 
thirteen ; Provided, that the Senate does not 
deem it necessary, and therefore declines, to ex- 
press in advance any opinion, or to f^ive any in- 
struction, either general or specific, for the guid- 
ance of the said Committee." 

April I9th. — The Senate proceeded to 
elect by ballot such Select Committee, which 
was composed as follows : 

Mr. Henry Clay of Ky. Chairman. 
Messrs. Dickinson of N. Y. Cooper of Pa. 

Phelps of Vt. Downs of La. 

Bell of Tenn. King of Ala. 

Cass of Mich. Mangum of N. C. 

Webster of Mass. Mason of Va. 

Berrien of Ga. Bright of Ind. 

May Sth. — Mr. Clay, from said Com- 
mittee, reported as follows : 

REPORT. 

The Senate's Committee of thirteen, to whom 
were referred various resolutions relating to 
California, to other portions of the territory 
recently acquired by the United States from 
the Republic of Mexico, and to other subjects| 
connected with the institution of Slavery, have, ; 
according to order, had these resolutions and 
subjects under consideration, and beg leave to 
submit the following Report: 

The Committee entered on the discharge of 
their duties with a deep sense of their great im- 
portance, and with earnest and anxious solicitude 
to arrive at such conclusions as might be satis- 
factory to the Senate and to the country. Most 
of the matters referred have not only been sub- 
jected to extensive and serious public discussion 
throughout the country, but to a debate in the 
Senate itself, singular for its elaborateness and 
its duration ; so that a full exposition of all those 
motives and views which, on several subjects 
confided to the Committee, have determined the 
conclusions at which they have arrived, seems 
quite unnecessary. They will, therefore, restrict 
themselves to a few general observations, and to 
some reflections which grow out of those sub- 
jects. 

Out of our recent territorial acquisitions, and 
in connection with the institution of Slavery, 
questions most grave sprung, which, greatlv di- 
viding and agitating the people of the United 
States, have threatened to disturb the harmony, 
if not to endanger the safety, of the Union. The 
Committee believe it to be highly desirable and 
necessary speedily to adjust all those questions, 
in a spirit of concord, and in a manner to pro- 
duce, if practicable, general satisfaction. They 
think it would be unwise to leave any of them 
open and unsettled, to fester in the public mind, 
and to prolong, if not aggravate, the existing 
agitation. It has been their object, therefore, in 
this Report, to make such proposals and recom- 
mendations as would accomplish a general ad- 
justment of all these questions. 

Among tlie subjects referred to the Committee 
whi('h coiiiinund their first attention, are the reso- 
lutions ofl'ered to the Senate by the Senator from 



Tennessee, Mr. Bell. By a provision in the 
resolution of Congress annexing Texas to the 
United States, it is declared that " new States of 
convenient size, not exceeding four in number, 
by the consent of said State, be formed out of 
the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to 
admission, under the provisions of the Federal 
Constitution : and such States as may be formed 
out of that portion of said territory lying South 
of 36° 30' North latitude, commonly known as 
the Missouri Compromise line, shall be admitted 
into the Union with or without Slavery, as the 
people of each State asking admission may de- 
sire." 

The Committee are unanimously of opinion, 
that whenever one or more States, formed out 
of the territory of Texas, not exceeding four, 
having sufficient population, with the consent of 
Texas, may apply to be admitted into the Union, 
they are entitled to such admission, beyond all 
doubt, upon the clear, unambiguous, and absolute 
terms of the solemn compact contained in the 
Resolution of Annexation adopted by Congress, 
and assented to by Texas. But, whilst the Com- 
mittee conceive that the right of admission into 
the Union of any new State, carved out of the 
Territory of Texas, not exceeding the number spe- 
cified, and under the conditions stated, cannot be 
justly controverted, the Committee do not think 
that the formation of any new States should now 
originate with Congress. The initiative, in con- 
formity with the usage which ha.s hitherto pre- 
vailed, should be taken by a portion of the peo- 
ple of Texas themselves, desirous of constituting 
^ new State, with the consent of Texas. And in 
the formation of such new States, it will be for 
the people composing it to decide for themselves 
whether they will admit, or whether they will ex- 
clude, Slavery. And however they may decide 
that purely municipal question, Congress is bound 
to acquiesce, and to fulfill in good faith the stipu- 
lations of the compact with Texas. The Commit- 
tee are aware that it has been contended that the 
resolution of Congress annexing Texas was im- 
constitutional. At a former epoch of our coun- 
try's history, there were those (and Mr. Jefferson, 
under whose auspices the treaty of Louisiana 
was concluded, was among them,) who believed 
that the States formed out of Louisiana could not 
be received into the Union without an amend- 
ment of the constitution. But the States of Loui- 
siana, Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa have been 
all, nevertheless, admitted. And who would now 
think of opposing Minnesota, Oi'egon, or new 
States formed out of the ancient province of 
Louisiana, upon the ground of an alleged original 
defect of constitutional power ? In grave nation- 
al transactions, while yet in their earlier or in- 
cipient stages, dift'erences may well exist ; but 
when once they have been decided by a constitu- 
tional majority, and are consummated, or in a 
process of consummation, there can be no other 
safe and prudent alternative than to respect the 
decision already rendered, and to acquiesce in it. 
Entertaining those views, a majority of the Com- 
mittee do not think it necessary or proper to re- 
commend, at this time, or prospectively, any new 
State or States to be formed out of the territory 
of Texas. Should any such State be hereafter 
formed, and present itself for admission into the 
Union, whether with or without the establishment 
of Slavery, it cannot be doubted that Congress will 
admit it, under the influence of similar considera- 
tions, in regard to new States formed of or out of 
New-Mexico and Utah, with or without the insti- 
tution of Slavery, according to the constitutions 
and judgment of the people who compose them, 
as to what may be best to promote their happi- 
ness. 

In considering tlie question of the admission 
of California as a State into the Union, a majori- 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 



61 



ty of the Coniiniltro conc-civc Hint niiy irregu- 
larity, by v.U'w.h liiiit State was urgaiii/.i-il williout 
the pruvi<ui8 alillmrity tif an act it( C'oiif;ri'SK, 
ou(j;lit to 1)1! (>v<Tlii(>ki'il, ill cmiBideratiim of the 
omission by ("oii;,'r«'ss to i'Mtal>li.sh iiiiy territorial 
Rovcrnniciit lor the iii'oiilc of falifornia, ami llio 
coiisi'tjueiit lu'coHsity wliicli thvy were uiiiUr to 
create a t;ovcrmiicii't for tln'iiisi'ivCB. best adaiited 
to their own wants. There are various iuslaiiees, 
prior to tile ease of California, of the ailniissioii 
of new States into the Union without any pre 
vious authorization by ("oiiijress. 'J'he sole eon 
dition reiiuired hy the Constitution of the I'liited 
States, in respeel to the admission of a new State, 
is, that its eoustitution shall be republican in 
form. California prosi'nts such n constitution; 
and there is no doubt of her haviiiff a {greater 
poiiuliititin than that which, aeeordinj; to the 
l)ractieeof the government, lias been heretofore 
deemed sullieieiit to receive a new State into the 
Union. 

In rej^ard to the proposed boundaries of Cali- 
fornia, the Committee would have been glad if 
there c.\ist<>il more full and accurate geographi- 
cal knowledge of the territory which these bound- 
aries include. There is reason to believe that, 
large as they are they embrace no very dispro- 
portionate quantity of land adapted to cultiva- 
tion. And it is known that they contain c.vteii- 
Bive ranges of mountains, deserts of sand, and 
much unproductive soil. It might have been, 
jierhaps, better to have assigned to California a 
more limited front on the Pacific ; but even if 
there had been reserved, on the shore of that 
ocean, a portion of the boundary which it presents, 
for any other State or Stales, it is not very 
certain that an aeeessible interior of sufficient 
extent could have been given to them to render 
an approach to the ocean, through their own lim- 
its, of very great importance. 

A majority of the Committee think that there 
are many and urgent concurring considerations 
in favor of admittiii'j California, with the pro 
posed t)oundaries, aiiu of securing to her at this 
time tlie benetits of a State government. If, 
hereafter, ujion an increase of tier population, a 
more thorougli e-xploratiou of her territory, and 
an ascertainment of the relations which may 
arise between the people occupying its various 
parts, it should be found conducive to their con- 
venience and happiness to foim a new State out 
of California, we have every reason to believe, 
from past experience, that the question of its ad- 
mission will bo fairly considered and justly de- 
cided. 

A majority of the Committee, therefore, recom- 
mend to the Senate the passage of the bill re- 
ported by the Committee on Territories, for the 
admission of California as a State into the Union. 
To prevent misconception, the Committee also 
recommend that the amendment reported by the 
same Committee to the bill be adojited, so as to 
leave incontestable the right of the United States 
to the public domain and other public property 
of California. 

Whilst a majority of the Committee believe it 
to be necessary and jiroper, under actual circum- 
stances, to admit California, they think it quite 
ns necessary and proper to establish governments 
for the residue of the territory derived from Mex- 
ico, and to bring it within the pale of the federal 
authority. The remoteness of that territory from 
tlie seat of the general government ; the dispersed 
state of its population ; the variety of races — pure 
and mixed — of which it consists ; the ignorance 
of some of the races of our laws, language, and 
hahits ; their exposure to inroads and wars of 
savage tribes ; and the solenui stipulations of the 
treaty by which we acquired dominion over them 
— inijiose upon the Uniteii States the imperative 
obligation of extending to them protection, and 



of providing for Ihcm govemmont and Inwn suit- 
ed to their condition. Congress will fail in tho 
perl'ormaiieo of a high duty, if it do not give, 
or attempt to give to llieiii, the benefit of such 
protection, govermiient, and laws. They are not 
now, and for a long time to come may not be, (ire- 
pared for State government The territorial 
form, for the jiresent, is best suited to their condi- 
tion. A bill has been reported by the ('umuiilteo 
on TciTitories, dividing all the territory iic(|uirt>d 
from Mexico, not comprehended within tlie limita 
of California, into two lerritoriis, under themiinea 
of NewMexieo and Utah, and projiosing for each 
a territorial government. 

'I'Ik^ Committee recommend to the Senate tho 
establishment of those territorial governments; 
and, in oriler more certainly tosecuri.: tlmt desira- 
ble object, they also recommend that the bill 
for their establishment be incorporated in the hill 
for the admission of California, and that, united 
together, they both bo passed. 

The combination ot the two measures in the 
same bill is objected to on viu'ious grounds. It 
is said that they are incongruous, and have no 
necessary connection with each other. A majority 
of (he Committee think otherwise. The object 
of both measures is the establishment of a govern- 
ment suited to the conditions, resjiectively, of 
the propo.sed new State and of the new Territo- 
ries. Prior to their transfer to the United States, 
they both formed a part of Mexico, where tJioy 
stood in equal relations to tho government of Uiat 
republic. They were both ceded to the United 
States by the same treaty. And, in the same ar- 
ticle of that treaty, the United States engaj^ed to 
l)rotect and govern bi^th. Common in tlieir ori- 
gin, common in their alienation from one for- 
eign government to another, common in their 
wants of good government, and conterminous in 
some of their boundaries, and alike in many par- 
ticulars of ])hysical condition, they have nearly 
( verything in common in the relation in which 
they stand to the rest of this Union. There is, then, 
a general fitness and propriety in extending the 
parental care of goNcrnment to both in common. 
If California, by a sudden and extraordinary aug- 
mentation of population, has advanced so rapidly 
as to mature tor herself a State Government, that 
furnishes norenson why the loss fortunate Territo- 
ries of New-Mexico and Utah should be aban- 
doned and left ungoverned by the United States, 
or should be disconnocled with California, which, 
although she has organized for herself a State 
Government, must, leijally and constitutionally, 
be regarded as a Territory until she is actually 
admitted as a State into tho Union. 

It is further objected that, by combining the 
two measures in the same bill, members who 
may be willing to vote for one, and unwilling to 
vote for the other, would be placed in an embar- 
rassing condition. They would be constrained, it 
is urged, to take or reject both. On the otimr hand, 
there are other members who would be willing 
to vote for both united, but would feel them- 
selves constrained to vote against the California 
bill if it stood alone. Each party finds in the bill 
which it favors something which coinmends it to 
acceptance, and in the other something which it 
disapproves. The true ground, theiefore, of tho 
objection to the union of the me;isiire.s is not 
any want of affinity between them, but because 
of the favor or disfavor with which they are re- 
S[)cetively regarded. In this conflict of opinion, 
it seems to a majority of the Connnittee that a 
spirit of mutual eonccssiou enjoins that tho two 
measures should be connected together— the ef- 
fect of which will be, that neither opinion will 
exclusively triuni])h, and that both may find, in 
such an amicable wrangemcnt, enough of good 
to reconcile them to the acceptance of the oom- 
biucd measure. And such a course of Icgisla- 



62 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



tion is not (it all unusual. Few laws have ever 
passed ill which there were not paita to which 
exception wius tnkon. It is inexpedient, if not 
iini)racticable, to separate these parts, and em- 
body them in distinct bills, so as to accommodate 
the diversitj' of opinion whicli may exist. The 
Constitution of tlie United tStates contained in 
it a great variety of provisions, to some of which 
Bcrious objection was made in the convention 
which formed it, by different members of that 
body ; and, when it was submitted to tlie ratifica- 
tion of the States, some of tliem objected to some 
parts, and others to other parts, of tlie same instru- 
ment. Had these various porta and provisions 
been separately acted on in the convention, or 
separately submitted to the people of the United 
States, it is by no means certain that the Consti- 
tution itself would ever have been adopted or 
ratified. Those who did not like particular jjro- 
visions found compensation in other parts ot it. 
And in all cases of constitution and laws, when 
either is presented as a whole, the question to 
be decided is, whether the good which it contains 
is not of greater amount, and capable of neutraliz- 
ing anything objectionable in it. And, as nothing 
hmiiaii is perfect, for the sake of that harmony so 
desirable in such a confederacy as this, we must 
be reconciled to secure as much as we can of what 
we wish, and be consoled by the reflection that 
what we do not exactly like is a friendly conces- 
sion, and agreeable to those who, being united 
with us in a common destiny, it is desirable, 
should always live with us in peace and con- 
cord. 

A majority of the Committee have, therefore, 
been led to the recommendation to the Senate 
that the two measures be united. The bill for 
establishing the two Territories, it will be observ- 
ed, omits tiie SVilmot proviso on the one hand, 
and, on the other, makes no provision for the in- 
troduction of Slavery into any part of the new 
Territories. 

That proviso has been the fruitful source of 
distraction and agitation. If it were adopted and 
applied to any Territory, it would cease to have 
any obligatory force as soon as such Territory 
were admitted as a State into the Union. There 
was never any occasion for it to accomplish the 
professed object with which it was originally 
offered. This has been clearly demonstrated by 
the current of events. California, of all the re- 
cent territorial acquisitions from Mexico, was that 
in which, if anywhere within them, the introduc- 
tion of Slavery was most likely to take place ; and 
the constitution of California, by the unanimous 
vote of her convention, has expressly interdicted 
it. There is the highest degree of probability 
that Utah and New-Mexico will, when they come 
to be admitted as States, follow the example. The 
proviso is, as to all those regions in common, a 
mere abstraction. Why should it be any longer 
insisted on ? Totally destitute as it is of any 
practical import, it has, nevertheless, had the per- 
nicious effect to excite serious, if not alarming, 
consequences. It is high time that the wounds 
which it has inflicted should bo healed up and 
closed. And, to avoid, in all future time, the 
agitations which must be produced by the conflict 
of opinion on the Slavery question, existing as 
this institution does in some of the States, and 
prohibited as it is in others, the true principle 
which ought to regulate the action of Congress 
in forming Territorial Governments for each 
newly acquired domain, is to refrain from all 
legislation on the subject in the Territory ac- 
quired, so long as it retains the Territorial form 
of Governinent— leaving it to the people of such 
Territory, when they have attained to the condi- 
tion which entitles them to admission as a State, 
to decide for themselves the question of the allow- 
ance or prohibition of domestic Slavery. The 



Committee believe that they express the anxiou.s 
desire of an immense majority of the peoi)le of 
the United States, when they declare that it is 
high time that good feeling, harmony, and frater- 
nal sentiment should be again revived, and that 
the (government should be able once more to pro- 
ceed in its great operations to promote the happi- 
ness and prosperity of the country, undisturbed 
by this distracting cause. 

As for California — far from seeing her sensi- 
bility affected by her being associated with other 
kindred measures — she ought to rejoice and be 
highly gratified that, in entering into the Union, 
she may have contributed to the tranquillity and 
happiness of the great family of States, of which, 
it is to be hoped, she may one day be a distin- 
guished member. 

The Committee beg leave next to report on 
the subject of the Northern and Western bound- 
ary of Texas. On that question a great diversity 
of opinion has prevailed. According to one view 
of it, the western limit of Texas was the Nueces; 
according to another, it extended to the Kio 
Grande, and stretched from its mouth to its 
source. A majority of the Committee having 
come to the conclusion of recoiiiinending an ami- 
cable adjustment of the boundary with Texas, 
abstain from expressing any opinion as to the 
true and legitimate western and northern bound- 
ary of that State. The terms proposed for such 
an adjustment are contained in the bill herewith 
reported, and they are, with inconsiderable varia- 
tion, the same as that reported by the Committee 
on Territories. 

According to these terms, it is proposed to 
Texas that her boundary be recognized to the Eio 
Grande, and up that river to the point commonly 
called El Paso, and thence running up that river 
twenty miles, measured thereon by a straight 
line, and thence eastwardly to a point where the 
hundredth degree of west longitude crosses Eed 
liiver; being the southwest angle in the line de- 
signated between the United States and Mexico, 
and the same angle in the line of the territory set 
apart for the Indians by the United States. 

If this boundary be assented to by Texas, 
she will be quieted to that extent in her title. And 
some may suppose that, in consideration of this 
concession by the United States, she might, with- 
out any other equivalent, relinquish any claim 
she has beyond the proposed boundary ; that is, 
any claim to any part of New-Mexico. But, 
under the influence of sentiments of justice and 
great liberality, the bill proposes to Texas, for 
her relinquishment of any such claim, a large pe- 
cuniary equivalent. As a consideration for it, 
and considering that a portion of the debt of 
Texas was created on a pledge to her creditors of 
the duties on foreign imports, transferred by the 
resolution of Annexation to the United States, 
and now received and receivable in her treasury, 
a majority of the Committee recommend the pay- 
ment of the sum of millions of dollars to 

Texas, to be applied in the first instance to the 
extinction of that portion of her debt for the re- 
imbursement of which the duties on foreign im- 
ports were pledged as aforesaid, and the residue 
in such manner as she may direct. The sum is 
to be paid by the United States, in a stock, to be 
created, bearing five per cent, interest annually, 
payable half yearly, at the treasury of the United 
States, and the principal reimbursable at the end 
of fourteen years. 

According to an estimate which has been 
made, there are included in the territory to which 
it is proposed that Texas shall relinquish her 
claim, embracing thq* part of New-Mexico lying 
east of the Kio Grande, a little less than 124,933 
square miles, and about 79,957,120 acres of land. 
From the proceeds of the sale of this land, the 
United States may ultimately be reimbursed a 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 



C3 



E' 



portion, if not the wliolo, of the amount of what 
18 thus) pniiioscd to lie iidvimccU to T<'.\as. 

It ciuiiiot ho aiiticiiiatvcl that 1V.\m« will (k-- 
cliia- to accoilc to tlitw^ lihi-nil proiioMilionn ; hut 
if sho hIkiiiIiI, it JH to l)c iliMtiiictiy uiMloiMtooil that 
the title of the United SlalcN to" any tenitoiy ac- 
quireil from Mexico fii«t of the Kio (Jrande will 
remain miimpaircd, and iu the Banic condition an 
if the i)io|ioMal8 of ttiyustnioul now otlcred hml 
never JK'en inudo. 

A uoi^iinilv of Iho Connnittoo roconnnend to 
tlic Senate tluit the section containing these pro 

sals to Texas shall ho incorporated into the 
ill emhraein},' llie admission ot C'alil'ornia as a 
State, and the estal)lishnient of terrilmial ;;oyerii- 
uiontti for Utah and New Mexico. The detinilion 
ande«tal)lislnnent of the houndary hetween New- 
Mexico and Texas liave an intmintc and neces- 
sary connection willi the estahlishnicnt of a ter- 
ritorial government t'or New-Mexico. To form a 
territorial government for NewMexico, without 
prescribing the limits of the Territory, would 
leave the work imperfect and incomi)letc, and 
might expose New-Mexico to seriouscontroversy, 
if not dangerous collisions, with the .Slate of 
Texas. And most, if not all, the considerations 
which unite in favor of combining the bill for the 
admission of Calitbrnia as a State and the Teriito- 
rial liills, apply to the boundary question of Tex- 
as. Hy the union of tlic three measures, every 
question of difKculty and <livision which has 
arisen out of the territorial acquisitions from 
Mexico, will, it is hoped, be a(\justed, or placed 
in a train of satisfactory adjustment. The Com- 
mittee, availing thenuselves of the arduous and 
valuable labors of the Committee on Territories, 
report a bill, hcrewitii annexed, (marked A,) em- 
bracing those three measures, the passage of 
•which, uniting thcai together, they recommend 
to the Senate. 

The Committee will now proceed to the con- 
sideration of, and to report upon, the subject of 
persons owing service or labor iu one Slate es- 
caping into another. The text of the Constitution 
is quite clear: " No person held to labor or service 
in one State, under tlie l/iics thereof^ escaping into 
another, shall, in consequence of any law or regu- 
lation therein, he discharged from such service or 
labor, but shall be delivered vp on the claim of 
the party to whom such service or labor is due." 
Notliing can be more explicit than this language 
— nothing niore manifest than the right to demand, 
and the obligation to deliver up to the claimant, 
any such fugitive. And the Constitution address- 
es itself alike to the States composing the Union 
and to the General (jioverument. If, indeed, 
there were any diflerenco in the duty to enforce 
tliis portion of the Constitution between the 
States and the Federal Government, it is more 
clear that it is that of the former than of the lat- 
ter, liut it is the duly of both. It is well known 
and incontestable that citizens of slaveholdiu"- 
States encounter the greatest difficulty hi obtain- 
ing the benefit of this provision of the Constitu- 
tion. 

The attempt to recapture a fugitive is almost 
always a subject of great irritation and excite- 
ment, and often leads to most unpleasant, if not 
perilous, collisions. An owner of a slave, it is 
quite notorious, cannot pursue his property, for 
the purpose of its recovery, in some of the States, 
without imminent pei-sunal hazard. This is a 
deplorable state of things, which ought to be re- 
medied. The law of ^ 17!« has been found 
wholly ineffectual, and requires more stringent 
enactments. There is especially a deficiency in 
tlie number of public functionaries authorized to 
attord aid in the seizure and arrest of fugitives. 
Various States have declined to aflord aid and 
cooperation in the surrender of fugitives from 
labor, as the Committee believe, from a miscou- 



ception of tlieir duty, ariBiliK under the Constitn- 
tion of the Uniteil Stales. It is Iruo that a deci- 
sion of the Supreme Court of the Unin^d Slates 
has given counteiianco to them in withholding 
their assislaiice. Hut Iho Committee cannot but 
bi'lieve lliat the intention of the Supreme Court 
has bi'en misumlerslood. They cannot but think 
that that Court merely meant that laws of liio 
several States, which »'reated obslacdes in Iho 
way of the recovery of fugilives, were not au- 
thorized by the C(Ui»titution, and not that tlio 
Stale laws affording facilitie.s in the recovery of 
fugitives were forbidden by that iiiKtrumenl. The 
iioij slaveholding States, whatever sympathies 
any of their cilizeim may feel for persons who 
est'ape from othi'r States, cannot discharge them- 
selves from an obligation to enforce the Constitu- 
tion (d'the United States. All parts (d'lhe inslru- 
ment being dependent upon, and connected with, 
each other, ought to be fairly and justly enforced. 
If souk; Slates may seek to exonerate them- 
selves from one jiortion of the Constitution, other 
States may endeavor to evade the performance 
of tlu' other portions of it ; and thus the instru- 
ment, in some of the most important provisions, 
might become inoperative and invalid. 

But, whatever may be the condu<'t of indivi- 
dual States, the duty of the General Government 
is perfectly clear. That duty is, to amend the 
existing law, and provide an eflectu.-d remedy for 
the recovery of fugitives from service or labor. 
In devising such a remedy. Congress ought, 
whilst, on the one hand, securing to the owner 
the fair restoration of his property, effectually to 
guard, on the other, against any abuses iu the ap- 
plication of that remedy. 

In all case.i of arrest, within a State, of persons 
charged with offenses ; iu all cases of the pursuit 
of fugiiives from justice from mio State to an- 
other State ; in all cases of extradition, inovided 
for by treaties between foreign powers — the pro- 
ceeding uniformly is summary. It has never 
been thought necessary to apply, in cases of that 
kind, the forms and ceremonies of a final triid. 
And, when that trial dues take place, it is in the 
Stale or country from which the party has tied, 
and not in that in which he has found refuge. By 
the expHiss language of the Constitution, whether 
the fugitive is held to service or labor, or not, is 
to be determined hy the laws nf the Stu/efrom 
ickich he ficd ; and, consequently, it is most pro- 
per that the tribunals of that State should ex- 
pound and administer its own laws, if there 
have been any instances of abuse, iu the errone- 
ous arrest of fugitives from service or labor, the 
Committee have not obtained knowledge of ihcm. 
They believe that none have occurred, and that 
such are not likely to occur. But, iu order to 
guard against the possibility of their occurrence, 
the committee have prepiu-ed, and herewith re- 
port, a section, (marked B.) to be offered to the 
fugitive bill now before the Senate. According to 
this section, the owner of a fugitive from service 
or labor is, when practicable, to can'y with him 
to the State in which the person is found a record 
from a competent tribunal, adjudicating the fact 
of elopement and slavery, with a general de- 
scription of the fugitive. This record, properly 
attested and certified under the official seal of the 
court, being taken to the Stale where the persc)n 
owing service or labor is found, is to be held 
compelent and sufficient evidence of the facta 
which had been adjudicated, and will leave no- 
thing more to be done than to identity the fugi- 
tive. 

Numerous petitions havo been presented pray- 
ing for a trial by jury, in the case of arrest of 
fugitives from service or labor in the noii slave- 
holding States. It has been already shown that 
this would bo entirely contrary to practice and 
uniform usage in all similar cases. Under the 



64 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



name of a populnr and cherished institution — an 
iustitution, however, never applied in eases of 
preliminary jiroeeeding, and only in cases of 
final trial— there would be a complete mockery 
of justice, so far as the owner of the fugitive is 
ooncernod. If the trial by jury bo admitted, it 
would draw after it its usual consequences ; of 
continuance from time to time, to bring evidence 
from distant places ; of second or new trials, in 
cases where the jury is hung, or the verdict is 
set aside ; and of revisals of the verdict and con- 
duct of tiic juries by competent tribunals. Dur- 
ing the j)rogres8 of all these dilatory and expeu- 
sivc proceedings, what security is there as to the 
custody and forthcoming of the fugitive upon 
their termination ? And if, finally, the claimant 
should be successful, contrary to what happens 
in ordinary litigation between free persons, he 
would have to bear all the burdens and expenses 
of the litigation, without indemnity, and would 
learn, by sad experience, that he had by far bet- 
ter abandon his right in the first instance, than 
to eslablit-h it at such uuremuuerated cost and 
heavy sacrifice 

But, whilst the Committee conceive that a trial 
by jury in a State whore a fugitive from service 
or labor is recaptured, would be a virtual denial 
of justice to the claimant of such fugitive, and 
would be tantamount to a positive refusal to exe- 
cute the provision of the Constitution, the same 
objections do not apply to such a trial in the State 
from which he fled. In the slaveholding States. 
full justice is administered, with entire fairness 
and impartiality, in cases of all actions for free- 
dom. The person claiming his freedom is allowed 
to sue in forma panperix ; counsel is assigned 
him ; time is allowed him to collect his witnesses 
and to attend the sessions of the court; and his 
claimant is placed under bond and security, or is 
divested of the possession during the progress of 
the trial, to insure the enjoyment of these privi- 
leges ; and, if there be any leaning on the part 
of courts and juries, it is always to the side of 
the claimant for freedom. 

In deference to the feelings and prejudices 
which prevail in non-slaveholdinf' States, the 
Committee propose such a trial in the State from 
which the fugitive tied, in all cases where he de- 
clares to the officer giving the certificate for his 
return that he has a right to his freedom. Ac- 
cordingly, the Committee have prepared, and 
report herewith, (marked C), two sections which 
they recommend should be incorporated iu the 
fugitive bill, pending iu the Senate. According 
to these sections, the claimant is placed under 
bond, and required to return the fugitive to that 
county in the State from which he fled, and there 
to take him before a competent tribunal, and al- 
low him to assert and establish his freedom, 
if he can, affording to him for that purpose all 
needful facilities. 

The Counnittee indulge the hope that if the 
Fugitive bill, with the proposed amendments, 
shall be psissed by Congress, it will be eftectual 
to secure the recovery of all fugitives from ser- 
vice or labor, and it will remove all causes of 
complaint which have hitherto been experienced 
on that irritating subject. But. if in iis practi- 
cal operation it shall be found insuflicient, and if 
no adequate remedy can be devised for the res- 
toration 10 their owners of fugitive slaves, those 
owners shall have a just title to indemnity out 
of the Treasury of the United States. 

It remains to report upon the resolutions in 
relation to Slavery and the SlaveTrado in the 
District of Cnhnnbia. Without discussing the 
power of Congress to abolish Slavery within the 
District, in regard to which a diversity of opin- 
ion exists, Uie Counnittee are of opinion that it 
ought not to be abolished. It could not be done 
■witiiout indispensable conditions, which are not 



likely to be agreed to. It could not be done with- 
out exciting great apprehension and alarm in tho 
Slave States. If the power were exercised with- 
in this District, they would apprehend that, under 
some pretext or another, it might hereafter be 
attempted to be exercised within tbe slaveholding | 
Slates. It is true that, at present, all such power 
within those States is almost unanimously disa- 
vowed and disclaimed in the Free States. But, ex-: i ! 
perience in public affairs has too often shown ^ I 
that where there is a desire to do a particular i, 
thing, the power to accomplish it, sooner or later, :' 
will he found or assumed. 

Nor does the number of Slaves within the Dis- 
trict make the abolition of Slavery an object of 
any such consequence as appears to be attached 
to it in some parts of the Union. Since the retro- 
cession of Alexandria county to Virginia on the 
south side of the Potomac, the District now con- 
sists only of Washington county on the north 
side of that river ; and the returns of the decen- 
nary enumeration of the peojile of the United 
States show a rapidly progressing decrease in 
the number of slaves in Washington county. 
According to thi' census of 1S30, the number was 
4,.505 ; and in 18-10, it was reduced to 3,3i20 ; show- 
injj a reduction in ten years of nearly one-third. 
If It should continue in the same ratio, the num- 
ber, according to the census now about to be 
taken, will be only a little upward of two thou- 
sand. 

But a majority of the Committee think differ- 
ently in regard to the Slave-Trade within the 
District. By that trade is meant the introduc- 
tion of slaves from adjacent States into the Dis- 
trict, for sale, or to be placed in depot for tho 
purpose of subsequent sale or transportatioii to 
other and distant markets. That trade, a majori- 
ty of the Committee are of opinion, ought to be 
abolished. Complaints have always existed 
against it, no less on the part of members of 
Congress from the South than on the part of 
members from the North. It is a trade some- 
times exhibiting revolting spectacles, and one in 
which the people of the District have no inter- 
est, but, on the contrary, are believed to be de- 
sirous that it should be discontinued. Most, if 
not all, of the slaveholding States have, either ia 
their constitutions or by penal enactments, pro- 
hibited a trade in slaves as merchandise within 
their respective jurisdictions. Congress, stand- 
ing in regard to this District, on this subject, in 
a relation similar to that of the State Leg^islatures, 
to the people of the States, may safely follow the 
example of the States. The Committee have pre- 
pared, and herewith report, a bill for the aDoli- 
tion of that trade (marked D), the passage of 
which they recommend to the Senate. This bill 
has been framed after the model of what the law 
of Maryland was when the General Government 
was removed to Washington. 

The views and recommendations contained in 
this report may be recapitulated in a few words : 

1. The admission of any new State or States 
formed out of Texas to be postponed until they 
shall hereafter present themselves to be received 
into the Union, when it will be the duty of Con- 
gress fairly and faithfully to execute the com- 
pact with Texas, by admitting such new State or 
States ; 

2. The admission forthwith of California into 
the Union, with the boundaries which she has pro- 
posed ; 

3. The establishment of territorial governments, 
without the Wilmot Proviso, for New-Mexico 
anil Utah, embracing all the territory recently 
acquired by the United States from Mexico, not 
contained in the boundaries of California; 

4. The combination of these two last-mention- 
ed measures in the same bill ; 

5. The establishment of tho western and north- 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 



65 



em boundarioa of Toxns, nnd tlio oxfhiHion from 
Ler jlu•i^^lll(•lion of all Ncw-Moxico, witii (lu- 
grant to Toxns of n pccuiiiiirv oriuiviiloiit ; (uul 
the scc-tion for tlint i>\ir))OHe to'be incorporated in 
the bill adinittinj,' (.'alifornin and cHtablisliiny: ter- 
ritorial gijvernniciits for Utah and Ncw-JIex- 
ic'O ; 

li. More ollVotual onnctmcntB of law to seeure 
(he prompt delivery of prrnons bound to serviec 
or labor in one State, under tlie laws thereof, 
who escape into another Stale ; and, 

7. Absiainiiij,' from alioiishing Slavery; but, 
under a heavy peinilty, ]irohibitiii{; the slavo-lrudo 
ill the District of Columbia. 

If sueh of Iheso several mcnaurcs ne> require 
leffislation should bo carried out by suitable acts 
of Coiifrress, all controversies to which our late 
territorial ucnuisitioiie hiivo f;iven rise, and all 
existing questious eonnecti^d with the institution 
of Shivery, whether resultinj^ from those acquisi- 
tions, or trom its existence in the Stales and the 
District of Columbia, will be amicably settled 
and adjusted, in a inanni-r, it is eoiitidently be- 
lieved, to },nve {general satisfaction to an over- 
whelmiutr majority of the people of the United 
States. Con^'ress will have tuUilied its whole 
duty in re^^ard to the vast country which, hav- 
ing'been ceded by Mexico to the United States, 
has fallen under" their dominion. It will have 
extended to it protection, jirovided for its several 
parts the inestimable blessinj^ of free and regular 
govermnent, adapted to tlieir various wants, and 
placed the whole under the banner and the fla^ 
of the United States. Jleetinj; courageously its 
clear and entire duty. Congress will escape the 
unmerited reproach of liaving, from considera- 
tions of doubtful policy, abandoned to an unde- 
served fate territories of boundless extent, with a 
sparse, incongruous, and alien, if not unfriendly 
population, speaking dift'erent languages, and 
accustomed to ditVerent laws, whilst that popula- 
tion is making irresistible appeals to the new 
sovereignty to which they have been transferred 
for protection, for government, for law, and for 
order. 

The Committee have endeavored to present to 
the Senate a comprehensive plan of adjustment, 
■which, removing all causes of existing excite- 
ment and agitation, leaves none open to divide 
the country and disturb the general harmony. 
The nation has been greatly convulsed, not by 
measures of general policy, but by questions of 
a sectional character, and, therefore, more dan- 
gerous, and more to be deprecated. It wants re- 
pose. It loves and cherishes the Union. And it 
IS most cheering and gratifying to witness the 
outbursts of deep and abiding attachment t6 it, 
which have been exhibited in all parts of it, 
amidst all the trials through which we have pass- 
ed, and are passing. A people so patriotic as 
those of the United States, will rejoice in an ac- 
commodation of all troubles and difliculties by 
■which the safety of that Union might have been 
brought into the least danger. And, under the 
blessing of that Providence who, amidst all vicis- 
situdes, has never ceased to extend to tiiem His 
protecting care, His smiles. His blessings, they 
will continue to advance in population, power, 
and prosperity, and work out triumphantly the 
glorious problem of man's capacity for self-gov- 
erunieut. 



The Senate proceeded to debate from day to 
day the provisions of the principal bill thus 
reported, commonly termed " the Omnibus." 

June 'iSth. — Mr. Soule of Louisiana moved 
that all south of 30'^ 30' be cut otf from Cali- 
fornia, and formed into a territory entitled 
South California, and that said territory 



" shall, when ready, able, and willing to bo- 
come a State, and deserving to be such, be ad- 
mitted with iir without Slavery, as the I)eo)do 
thereof shall desire, and make known through 
their Constitutiun.'' 

This was rejected : Yeas I'J (ail Southern); 
Nays :{(;. 

Jn/i/ ] Otii. — Tiie discu,«si(in wit's int('rfui)ted 
by tlie death of I'residciit Tuyior. Millard 
Fillmore succeeded to the 1 'residency, and 
William U. Kiiifif of Alai)ama was cliosea 
President of the Senate, pro tempore. 

Jnlij \\i(lt. — 'I'lu! bill was reported to the 
Senate and amended so as to substitute " that 
Coii<;re.ss shall make no law establishiiif; or 
])roliil)iting'' Slavery in the new territories, 
instead of " in respect to" it. Yeas 27 ; 
Nays 25. 

Mr. Seward moved to add at the end of 
the 37th section : 

'• IJut neither Slavery nor involuntary servi- 
tud(^ shall be allowed in either of tlu! Territiu'ies 
of Kevv-Mexico or Utah, except on legal convic- 
tion for crime." 

Which was negatived ; Yeas and Nays not 
taken. 

July 11th. — The Senate resumed the con- 
sideration of the •' Omnibus bill.'' 

IMr. Benton moved a change in tlie pro- 
posed boundary between Texas and New- 
Mexico. Rejected : Yeas 18 ; Nays 3G. 

Mr. Foote moved that the 34th iiarallel of 
north latitude be the northern boundary 
of Texas throughout. Lost : Yeas 20 ; 
Nays 34. 

July 19///. — Mr. King moved that the 
parallel of 3.0'^ 30' be the southern boundary 
of the State of California. Rejected : Yeas 
20; Nays 37. 

Mr. Davis of Mississippi moved 36° 30'. 
Reijected : Yeas 23 ; Nays 32. 

July 23d. — Mr. Turney of Tenn. moved 
that the people of California be enabled to 
form a new State Constitution. Lost : 
Yeas 19 ; Nays 33. 

Mr. Jeff. Davis of Mississippi moved to 
add : 

" And that all laws and usages existing in said 
Territory, at the date of its acquisition by the 
United States, which deny or obstruct the right 
of any citizen of the United States to remove 
to, and reside in, said Territory, with any species 
of property legally held in any of the States of 
this Union, be, and are hereby declared to bo, 
null and void.' 

This wasrt;jected : Yeas 22 ; Nays 33. 
YEAS — For Davis's amendment : 



Messrs. Atchison, Mo. 

Barnwell, S. C. 
Bell, Tenn. 
Berrien, Ga. 
Butler, S. C. 
Clemens, Ala. 
Davis. Jliss. 
Dawstm, Ga. 
Downs, La. 
Houston, Texas, 
Huuter, 'N'a. 



King, Ala. 
JIangum, N. C. 
Mason, Va. 
Jlorton, Fla. 
Pratt. Md. 
Kusk, Texas, 
Sebastian, Ark. 
Soule, La. 
Tuniey, Tenn. 
Underwood, Ky. 
Yuiee. Flu.— 22. 



66 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



NAYS — Asrainst Davis's amendment . 



Messrs. Badger, N. C. 
Baldmn, Conn. 
Benton, Mo. 
Bradbury, Me. 
Bright, Ind. 
Cass, Mich. 
Chase, Ohio. 
Clarke. R. I. 
Clay, Ky. 
Cooper, Pa. 
Davis, Mass. 
Dayton, N. J 
Dickinson. N. 'i 
Dodge, Wise. 
Dodge, Iowa, 
Felch, Mich. 



Footc, Miss. 
Greene, K. I. 
Hale, N. H. 
Hamlin, Me. 
Jones, Iowa, 
Miller, N. J. 
Norris, N. H. 
Pearce, Md. 
Seward, N. Y. 
Shields, 111. 
Smith, Conn. 
Spruance, Del. 
Sturgeon, Pa. 
Upham, Vt. 
Wales, Del. 
Walker, Wise. 



Whitcomb, Ind. — 33. 

Jidi/ 24M. — ]\[r. Rusk moved that the 
Rio Grande del Norte be the western bound- 
ary of Texas througliout, as defined in her 
statute of limits. Rejected : Yeas 18 (all 
Southern); Nays 34 (Douglas not voting). 

Juhj 25th. — Mr, Hale moved that the true 
boundary of Texas be ascertained and con- 
formed to, without prejudice on account of 
aD-^-thiug contained in this bill. Rejected : 
Teas 23 ; Nays 30. 

Mr. Benton moved an amendment intended 
to exclude from Texas every portion of New- 
Mexico. Rejected : Teas 16 ; Nays 38. 

July 26th. — Mr. Seward moved that 
New-Mexico be admitted as a State into 
the Union. Rejected : Teas 1 (Seward) ; 
Nays 42. 

July 29?/;.— Mr. Dayton of N. J. moved 
that the true northern boundary of Texas be 
ascertained and settled by an amicable suit 
before the Supreme Court. Rejected : Teas 
18 ; Nays 34. 

Mr. Mason of Virginia moved that the pro- 
posed commissioners to settle the boundary 
of Texas be authorized, in case the true legal 
boundary be found impracticable, to agree on 
and fix a convenient compromise boundary. 
Lost, by a tie : Teas 29 ; Nays 29. 

Mr. Turney moved that no pecuniary con- 
sideration be given for any change from the 
rightful boundary of Texas. Rejected : Teas 
20 ; Nays 31. 

July ^Qth. — Mr. Walker of Miss, moved 
that this bill do lie on the table. Lost : 
Teas 2.5 ; Nays 32. 

Mr. Dawson of Ga. now moved the fol- 
lowing additional section : 

._ " And be it further enacted, That, until such 
time as the boundary line between the State of 
Te.\as and the territory of the United States be 
agreed to by the Legislature of the State of 
Texiis and the government of the United States, 
the Territorial government authorized by thi.s 
act shall not go into operation ea.st of the Kio 
Grande, nor shall any State be established for 
New-Mexico, embracing any territory east of the 
Rio Grande." 

This prevailed by the following vote — 30 
to 28— and gave the death-blow to the 
"Omnibus Bill." 



YEAS — For Dawson'' s amendment: 

Messrs. Atchison, Houston, 

Badger, Hunter, 

Barnwell, Jones, 

Bell, King, 

Berrien, Mangura, 

Butler, Mason, 

Clay, Morton, 

C'lemens, Phelps, 

Cooper, Pratt, 

Davis, Miss. Rusk, 

Dawson, Sebastian, 

Dickinson, Soule, 

Dodge, Iowa, Sturgeon, 

Downs, Turney, 

Footer Yulee— 30. 

NA YS — Against Dawson's amendment : 

Messrs. Baldwin, Hamlin, 

Benton, Miller, 

Bradbury, Norris, 

Bright, Pearce, 

Chase, Seward, 

Clarke, Shields, 

Davis, Mass. Smith, 

Dayton, Spruance, 

Dodge of Wise. Underwood, 

Douglas, Upham, 

Ewing, Wales, 

Felch, Walker, 

Greene, Whitcomb, 

Hale, Winthrop— 28. 

Mr. Bradbury's amendment, thus amend- 
ed, prevailed by a similar vote : Teas 30 ; 
Nays 28. 

[It provided for the appointment of com- 
missioners to determine, in connection with 
commissioners to be chosen by Texas, the 
Northern boundary of that State.] 

July 3\st. — Mr. Norris of N. H. moved 
to strike from the bill the words, " nor estab- 
lishing nor prohibiting African Slavery" 
(which words deny to the Territorial Legis- 
latures the power to establish or prohibit 
Slavery) . Carried : Teas 32 ; Nays 20. 
(Nays all Southern, but Ewing of Ohio and 
Whitcomb of Ind. — Cass, Clay, Dayton, 
Dickinson, Douglas, Seward, etc., in the 
affirmative.) 

Mr. Pearce of Md. now moved to strike 
from the bill so much thereof as provides a 
Territorial Government for New-Mexico, 
and for settling the boundary between her 
and Texas. Carried : Teas 33 (including 
all the opponents of a compromise, whether 
from the North or the South, and all those 
averse to paying Texas ten millions of dol- 
lars for relinquishing her pretensions to ab- 
sorb New-Mexico, with some who would 
not vote in this conjunction ibr the portions 
of "the Omnibus" severally disapproved of ;) 
Nays 22 : 

YEAS — For breaking up "the Omnibus" : 

Messrs. Baldwin, Hunter, 

Barnwell, Mason, 

Benton, Miller, 

Berrien, Morton, 

Butler, Pearce, 

Chase, Phelps, 

Clarke, Seward, 

Davis, Mass. Shields, 

Davis, Miss. Smith, 



THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 



67 



Daylon, 




Soldo, 


Dodpo, Wise. 


Tiirnoy, 


Doiitflns, 




Uixlcrwood , 


Ewiiifj, 




l'i)liftni, 


(Jrtcno, 




Wiiles, 


lliilo, 




Wiilitcr, 


Ilainlin, 




Wiuthrop, 




Yuleo— 33. 


JV J YS^Against 


breaking up " 




nib us 


" ; 


Messrs. Atchison, 




Houston, 


15(i(lt,'er, 




Jon<*, 


lilifrht, 




Kinfj, 


t'llHS, 




Mim^iim, 


Clay, 




N orris, 


demons, 




Priilt, 


Diuvson, 




Husk, 


Dickinson 


, 


Sebiistian, 



Doil^c of Iowa, Si)ruance, 
Downs, Stnrfioon, 

Poote, Whiiconib — 22. 

Mr. Pearce moved a substitute for the 
sections so stricken out. 

Mr. Ilale moved that the bill be postponed 
indefinitely. Negatived : Yeas 27 ; Nays 32. 

Mr. Douglas moved an amendment to Mr. 
Pearce 's substitute, providing that the Ter- 
ritorial Government thereby provided for 
New-Mexico shall not go into operation 
until the boundary of Texas be adjusted. 
Lost : Yeas 24 ; Nays 33. 

Mr. Turney of Tenn. moved that the bill 
be iudefiuitely postponed. Lost : Yeas 29 ; 
Nays 30. 

Mr. Underwood of Ky. moved to strike 
out so much of Mr. Pearce 's substitute as 
postponed the organization of a Territorial 
Government in New-Mexico to the 4th of 
March ensuing. Lost: Yeas 25; Nays 32. 

Mr. Yulee moved to strike out so much 
of said substitute as provided for the ap- 
pointment of commissioners to settle the 
boundary between Texas and New-Mexico, 
and with it the section just struck at by 
Mr. Underwood. Carried : Yeas 29 ; 
Nays 28. 

^Ir. Chase now moved that the bill be 
postponed indefinitely : Lost ; Yeas 28 ; 
Nays 29. 

The Senate now refused to adopt Mr. 
Pearce's substitute as amended : Yeas 25 ; 
Nays 28. 

Mr. Davis of Miss, moved a new boundary 
line for Utah, which was rejected : Yeas 22 ; 
Nays 34. 

Mr. Walker moved to strike out all that 
remained of the bill except so much as pro- 
vides for the admission of California : Lost; 
Yeas 22 ; Nays 33. 

Mr. Phelps of Vt. moved the indefinite 
postponement of the bill : Lost : Yeas 28 ; 
Nays 30. 

Mr. Atchison of Mo. moved to strike 
out so much of the bill as relates to Califor- 
nia : Li>Kt by a tie ; Yeas 29 ; Nays 29. 

Mr. Winthrop of Mass. moved a recon- 
sideration of this vote: Carried ; Yea£ 33; 
Nays 26. 



Mr. Clemens (tf Alabama moved that the 
bill Ik- i)ost|)()nui to the next session : LoKt ; 
Yeas 25 ; Nays 30. 

Mr. Atclii.son's rcK-oiwidercd motion, to 
strike California out of tiie bill, now pre- 
vailed : Yeius 31 ; Naj-s 25. 

The bill l)ciiig now rnliiccd so a.s to pro- 
vide merely for tin; org:uiiziiti(m of the Ter- 
tory of Utah, Mr. J>ougla« proposed to 
amend so aa to make its southern boundurv' 
the parallel of 3G"^ 30' instuul of 38*^ north 
latitude : LoBt ; Yeas 2G ; (all Southern 
but Dickiason of N. Y. and Donghis of 
111.) Navs 27 ; (all Northern but Spruance 
and Wales of Delaware — Mr. Clay not pres- 
ent). 

After some further attempts to amend, 
adjourn, etc., the lull, providing only for the 
organization of the Territory of Utah, was 
passed to its third reading : Yea.s 32 ; Nays 
18. [Nays all Northern but Bell of Ten- 
nessee.] 

Aug. 1st. — Said bill passed its third read- 
ing without a division. 

Mr. Douglas now called up the original 
bill providing for the admission of Califor- 
nia, which was again made a six'cial 
order. 

Aug. 2nd. — Mr. Foote of Miss, again 
moved "that the line of 3G° 30' be the 
southern boundary of said State: Lost; 
Yeas 23 (all Southern) ; Nays 33. 

Aug. Gill. — Mr. Turney move<l " that the 
line of 3G" 30', commonly known as the Mis- 
souri Compromise line, be, and the same 
hereby is, extended to the Pacific ocean." 
He proposed to admit California with one 
representative, on her assent, by convention, 
to this boundary ; rejected : Yeas 24 (all 
Southern); Nays, 32 (including Benton, Ln- 
derwood, Walker, Spruance, and Wales, 
from Slave States ; the rest Northern). 

Various motions to adjourn, postpone, etc., 
were now made and voted down ; finally, 
the Senate was, by the withdrawal of South- 
ern Members, left without a quorum, and 
adjourned. 

Aug. "ith. — The game of moving to post- 
pone, adjourn, etc., consumed all this day 
also. 

Meantime (August 5th), Mr. Pearce of 
Md. had introduced a bill to settle the 
Northern and Western boundaries of Texas, 
(a part of the old overturned " Omnil)u,«,") 
which was also sent to the Committee of 
the Whole. 

Aug. Gth. — President Fillmore sent ^ 
Message announcing that Gov. Bell of Texas 
had notified the (lovernmont of his deter- 
mination to extend the authority and juris- 
diction of Texas over all New->Iexico cast 
of the Rio Grande. Tlie President consid- 
ers himself bound to resist this pretension 
— if neccBsary. by force — does not believe 
anytliing would be effected by commission- 
cia to adjust the boundary, as the facts in 



C8 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



the case are already generally understood, 
but intimates that — 

" The Govenmient of the Uuited States would 
be justitied, hi my opiniou, in allowhigaii indeiii- 
iiity to TexaiS, not iinroasonnble or cxtravafjaiit, 
but fair, liberal, and awarded in a just spirit of 
accomuiodatioii." 

He urges Congress not to adjourn without 
settling this boundary question, and says : 

" I think no event would be hailed with more 
gratitieation by the people of the United States 
than the amicable adjustment of questions of 
difficulty which have now for a long time agi- 
tated the country, and occupied, to the exclusion 
of other subjects, the time and attention of Con- 
gress." 

The Texas boundary bill being now put 
ahead of the bill admitting California, Mr. 
Dayton moved (Aug. 8th), that Texas be 
required to cede her public lands to the 
United States in consideration of the pay- 
ment to her of Si 0,000,000 herein given her 
for the relinquishment of her claim to New- 
Mexico. After the United States shall 
have been repaid the .flO, 000,000 out of 
the proceeds of these lands, the residue to 
revert to Texas : Rejected ; Yeas 17 (all 
Northern) ; Nays 32. 

Aug. 9th. — Mr. Underwood moved that 
the Northern boundary of Texas run due 
east from a point on the Eio Grande, twen- 
ty miles above El Paso, to the Red River 
of Louisiana : Rejected ; Yeas 24 ; (all 
Northern, but Wales, Spruance, and Under- 
wood ;) Nays 2.5. 

Mr. Mason of Va. moved the giving up 
to Texas of all New-Mexico east of the Rio 
Grande : Lost : Yeas 14 ; Nays 37. 

IVIr. Sebastian moved that the (J*lew- 
Mexican) Territory, surrendered by Texas in 
pursuance of the provisions of this bill, shall 
be admitted in due time as a State, with or 
■without Slavery, as its people may deter- 
mine : Rejected: Yeas 19 ; (all Southern but 
Dodge of Iowa ;) Nays 29 — (including Bad- 
ger of N. C, Cass and Dickinson — Clay 
absent — Douglas, who voted just before and 
just after, did not vote on this.) 

The bill was now engrossed : Yeas 27 ; 
Nays 24 ; and finally passed : Yeas 30 ; 
Nays 20. 

Aug. 10th. — The California bill was now 
taken up. Mr. Yulee of Fla. moved a sub- 
stitute, remanding California to a territorial 
condition, and limiting her southern bound- 
ary : Rejected ; Yeas 12 (all Southern) ; 
Nays 35. 

Mr. Foote moved a like project, cutting 
off so much of California as lies south of 
3G deg. 30 min., and erecting it into the 
territory of Colorado : Rejected ; Yeas 13 
(ultra Southern) ; Nays 29. 

Aug. 12th. — Still another proposition to 
limit California southwardly, by the line of 
3G deg. 30 min., was made by Mr. Turney, 
and rejected : Yeas 20 (all Southern); Nays 
30. After defeating Southern motions to 



adjourn, postpone, and lay on the table, the 
bill M'as engrossed for a third reading : 
Yeas 33 ; (all the Senators from Free States, 
with Bell, Benton, Houston, Spruance, 
Wales and Underwood;) Nays 19; (all 
from Slave States. Mr. Clay still absent — 
endeavoring to restore his failing health.) 

Aug. I'Sth. — The California bill passed 
its third reading : Yeas 34 ; Nays 18 ; (all 
Southern.) 

Aug. lith. — The Senate now took up the 
bill organizing the Territories of New- 
Mexico and Utah, (as it was originally re- 
ported, prior to its inclusion in Mr. Clay's 
" Omnibus.") 

Mr. Chase of Ohio moved to amend the 
bill by inserting : 

" Nor shall there be in said Territory either 
Slavery or involuntary ser\'itude, otherwise than 
in the punishment of crimes whereof the party 
shall have been duly convicted to have been 
personally guilty." 

Which was rejected : Yeas 20 ; Nays 25. 

YEAS— For Prohibiting Slavery : 

Messrs. Baldwin, Hamlin, 

Bradbury, Miller, 

Bright, Norris, 

Chase, Phelps, 

Cooper, Shields, 

Davis, of Mass. Smith, 

Dodge, of Wise. Upham, 

Felch, Walker, 

Greene, Whitcomb, 

Hale, Wiuthrop— 20. 

NAYS — Against Prohibiting Slavery: 

Messrs. Atchison, Hunter, 

Badger, Jones, 

Bell, Kiugi 

Benton, Mangum, 

Berrien, Mason, 

Cass, Morton, 

Davis of Miss. Pratt, 

Dawson, Rusk, 

Dodge of Iowa, Sebastian, 

Downs, Soule, 

Foote, Sturgeon, 

Houston, Underwood, 
Yates— 25. 

The bill was then reported complete, and 
passed to be engrossed. 

Aug. Ibtfi. — Said bill had its third read- 
ing, and was finally passed : Yeas 27 ; 
Nays 1 0. 

[The Senate proceeded to take up, con- 
sider, mature, and pass the Fugitive Slave 
bill, and the bill excluding the Slave-Trade 
from the District of Columbia ; but the 
history of these is but remotely connected 
with our theme.] We return to the House. 



Aug. 19th — The several bills which we 
have been watching on their tedious and 
dubious course through the Senate, having 
reached the House, Mr. William J. Brown 
of Ind. moved that they be taken off the 
Speaker's table, and made the special order 
for to-morrow : Defeated ; Yeas 87 ; Nays 
98. 



THE COMPROMISE OF 18;J0. 



69 



Mr. Asliiiiun of Mass. made a similar I 
motion, wliich was likewise beaten : Yeas ] 
94 ; Nays 'J-1. 

An;j;. 28///. — The California bill was takfu 
up, read twice, and committed. 

The Texas bill cominjif up, Mr. Inj^e of 
Ala. objcetetl to it, and a vote wa.s taken on 
its rejection : Yeas 34 ; Nays 1C8 ; so it 
was not rejected. 

Mr. Boyd of Ky. moved to amend it so 
as to create and define thereby the territo- 
ries of New-Mexico and Utah, to be slave- 
hoMiiifiT or not as their people sliuU deter- 
mine when they shall come to form State 
gdvernnients. [In other words, to apjjcnd 
the bill or<ranizing tlie territory of New- 
Mexico to the Texas bill.] 

Mr. Meade of Va. raised the qvicstion of 
order ; but the Speaker ruled the amend- 
ment in order, and his rulinp: was sustained 
by the House : Yeas 122 ; Nays 84. 

^!(^. 29//(. — The Texas bill was taken 
up. Mr. Clingman of N. C. moved to 
amend so as to limit California by the line 
of 30 deg-. 30 miu., and establish the Terri- 
tory of Colorado. 

The Speaker ruled this amendment in or- 
der, and the House sustained him — 122 to 
07.' 

Mr. McCleruand of 111. moved the bill to 
the Committee of the Whole, to which Mr. 
Root of Ohio moved to add instructions, to 
exclude Slavery from all the Territory 
acquired from Mexico, east of California 
(which had already taken care of itself). 

Sept. 2nd. — This bill was, by a two-third 
vote, made a special order henceforth. 

Sept. 3rd. — Mr. McClernand withdrew 
his motion, (and Mr. Root's fell with it). 

Sept. 4tk.—Mi: R. M. McLane called the 
Previous Question, which was seconded, and 
the main question ordered. — Yeas 133 ; Nays 
68. 

The bill was then committed ; Yeas 101 ; 
Nays 99. 

Mr. Walden of N. Y. moved a reconsider- 
ation. 

Mr. Root moved that this do lie on the 
table : Yeas 103 ; Nays 103. The Speaker 
voted Nay ; so the motion was not laid on 
the table. 

The motion to reconsider prevailed : Yea.s 
104; Nays 101. The House then refused 
to commit : Yeas 101 ; Nays 103. 

Mr. Clingman's amendment, creating the 
Territory of Colorado out of Southern Cali- 
fornia and Utah, was now defeated : Yeas 
69 ; Nays 130. 

Mr. Boyd's amendment was then beaten : 
Yeas 98; Nays 106. 

Mr. Boyd moved a reconsideration, which 
prevailed : Yeas 131 ; Nays 7.5. 

Mr. Wentworth of 111. moved to commit 
the bill, with instructions to provide for the 
exclusion of Slavery from all the territory 
ceded by Mexico : Lost : Yeas 80 ; Nays 119. 



Mr. Tondis of Ca. having moved, a.s an 
amendment to .Mr. 15oyd's, that the Consti- 
tution of the United States and such statutes 
thereof as may not be locally inapplicable, 
and the connnon law as it existed on the 
4th of July, 1770, should be the exclusive 
laws of said territory, until alleriHl by tiic 
])roper authority, it was vutcd down : 
Yeas Gr> ; Nays 132. 

Mr. Boyd's amendment prevailed : Yeas 

107 ; Nays 99. 

Tlie question was now taken on the en- 
grossment of the bill, and it was defeated: 
Yeas 99 ; Nays 107. 

Mr. Howard of Texas moved a recon- 
sideration. 

'I'he Speaker decided it out of order, the 
bill having already ijeen once reconsidered. 

Mr. Howard appealed, and the House 
ov(M-ruled the Speaker's decision : Yeas (to 
sustain) 82 ; Nays 124. 

The vote rejecting the bill was recon- 
sidered : Yeas 122 ; Nays 84. 

Mr. Howard again moved the Previous 
Question, which was seconded, and the Main 
Question ordered: Yeas 11.5; Nays 97; 
and the bill was ordered to a third reading : 
Yeas 108 ; Nays 98. It was then passed 
(us amended on motion of Mr. Boyd) : Yeas 

108 ; Nays 97. 

Sept. 1th. — The California bill now came 
up. Mr. Boyd moved his amendment al- 
ready moved to the Texas bill. Mr. Vinton 
of Ohio declared it out of order. The Speak- 
er aijain ruled it in order. Mr. Vinton ap- 
pealed, and the House overruled the Speaker : 
Yeas (to sustain) 87 ; Nays 115. 

Mr. Jacob Thompson of Miss, moved to 
cut off from California all below 36" 30' : 
Rejected : Yeas 76 : Nays 131. 

The bill was now ordered to a third read- 
ing : Yeas 151 ; Nays 57, and then passed : 
Yeas 150 ; Nays 56 (all Southern). 

The Senate bill organizing the Territory 
of Utah (without restriction as to Slavery) 
was then taken up, and rushed through the 
same day : Yeas 97 ; Nays 85. ['I'he Nays 
were mainly Northern Free Soil men ; but 
some Southern men, for a different reason, 
voted with them.] 

Sept. 9th. — The House having returned 
the Texas Boundary bill, with an amend- 
ment (Linn Boyd's), including the bill or- 
ganizing the Territory of New-Mexico 
therein, the Senate proceeded to consider 
and agree to the same : Yeas 31 ; Nays 
10, namely : 

Messrs. Baldwin, Conn. Ewing, Ohio, 
Benton. Mo. Hamlm, Me. 

Cliaso, Ohio, Seward, N. Y. 

D.'ivis, Mnss. Uiihain, Vt. 

Dodge, Wise. Wiuthrop, Mass. 

So all the bills originally included in Mr. 
Clay's " Omnibus" were passed — two of 
them in the same bill — after the Senate bad 
once voted to sever them. 



70 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



These acts are substantially as follows : 

ADMISSION CF CALIFORNIA. 

An Act for the admission of the State of California 
into the Union. 

Whereas, the people of California Lave pre- 
sented a Constitutiou and asked admission into 
the Union, which constitution was submitted to 
Congress by the President of the United States, 
by message, dated February 13th, 1850, which, 
on due examination, is found to be republican in 
its form of government — 

Jie it enacted by the Senate a7id House of Rep 
rc.-iciUativcs of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled. That the State of Cali- 
fornia shall bo one, and is hereby declared to be 
one, of the United States of America, and ad- 
mitted into the Union on an equal footing with 
the original States, in all respects whatever. 

Sec. '2. And be it further enacted. That until 
the Representatives in Congress shall be appor- 
tioned according to an actual enumeration of the 
inhabitants of the United States, the State of 
California shall be entitled to two representatives 
in Congress. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the 
eaid State of California is admitted into the 
Union upon the express condition that the people 
of said State, through their legislature or other 
■wise, shall never interfere with the primary dis- 
posal of the public lands within its limits, and 
shall pass no law, and do no act, whereby the title 
of the United States to, and right to dispose of, 
the same, shall be impaired or questioned ; and 
they shall never lay any tax or assessment of any 
description whatsoever on the public domain 
of the United States ; and in no case shall 
non-resident proprietors, who are citizens of 
the United States, be taxed higher than resi- 
dents ; and that all the navigable waters within 
the said State shall be common higliways, and 
for ever free, as well to the inhabitants of 
said State as to the citizens of the United States, 
without any tax, duty, or impost therefor: 
Provided, that nothing herein contained shall 
te construed as recognizing or rejecting the 
propositions tendered by tlie people of Cali- 
fornia as articles of compact in the ordinance 
adopted by the Convention which formed the 
constitution of that State. 

Approved, Sept. 9, 1850. 



THE TEXAS BOUNDARY. 

An Act propo.sing to the State of Texas the establish- 
ment of her Northern and Western Boundaries, the 
relinquishment by the said State of all territory 
claimed by her exterior to said boundaries, and of 
all her claims upon the United States, and to estab- 
lish a Teiritorial Uovernmeut for New-Mexico. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives of die United States of America 
in Congress assembled , that the following propo- 
sitions shall be, and the same hereby are, offered 
to the State of Texas ; which, when agreed to by 
the said State, in an act passed by tlie General 
Assembly, shall be binding and obligatory upon 
the United States, and upon the said State of 
Texas : Provided, Tliat said agreement by the 
said General Assembly shall be given on or be- 
fore the first day of December, eighteen hundred 
and fifty. 

Fi rst. — The State of Texas will agree that her 
boundary on the North shall commence at the 
point at which the meridian of one hundred de- 
grees west from Greenwich is intersected by the 
parallel of thirty-six degrees, and thirty minutes 
north latitude, and shall run from said point due 
West to the nunidiau of one hundred and three 
degrees west from Greenwich ; hence her bound- 
ary shall run due south to the thirty second de- 
gree of north latitude ; thence on the said parallel 



of thirty-two degrees of north latitude to the Rio 
IJravo del Norte ; and thence with the channel of 
said river to the (Jnlf of Mexico. 

Second.— 'Vhe Slate of Texas cedes to the 
United States all her claims to territories exte- 
rior to the limits and boundaries, which she 
agrees to establish by the first article of this 
agreement. 

Third. — The State of Texas relinquishes all 
claim upon the United States for liability for the 
debts of Texas, and for compensation or indem- 
nity for the surrender to the United States of her 
ships, forts, arsenals, custom houses, custom- 
house revenue, arms and munitions of war, and 
public buildings, with their sites, which bec^ame 
the property of the United States at the time of 
the Annexation. 

Fourth. — The United States, in consideration 
of said establishment of boundaries, cession of 
claims to territory, and relinquishment of claims, 
will pay to the State of Texas the sum of ten 
millions of dollars, in a stock bearing five per 
cent, interest, and redeemable at the end of four- 
teen years, the interest payable half-yearly at the 
Treasury of the United States. 

Ffth. — Immediately after the President of the 
United States shall have been furnished with an 
authentic copy of the act of the general assembly 
of Texas, accepting these propositions, he shall 
cause the stock to be issued in favor of the State 
of Texas, as provided for in the fourth article of 
this agreement. 

Provided also, That no more than five millions 
of said stock shall be issued until the creditors of 
the State, holding bonds and other certificates 
of stock of Texas, for which duties on imports 
were specially pledged, shall first file, at the 
treasury of the United States, releases of all claims 
against the United States for or on account of 
said bonds or certificates, in such form as shall 
be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
and approved by the President of the United 
States. 

ORGANIZATION OF NEW-MEXICO. 

The second section of this act enacts, that all 
that portion of the territory of the United States, 
bounded as follows, to wit: beginning at a point 
on the Colorado river where the boundary line 
of the republic of Mexico crosses the same ; thence 
eastwardly with the said boundary line to the 
Rio Grande ; thence following the main channel 
of said river to the parallel of the thirty- 
second degree of north latitude; thence eastwardly 
with said degree to its intersection with the one 
hundred and third degree of longitude west from 
Greenwich; thence north with said degree of 
longitude to the parallel of the thirty eighth de- 
gree of north latitude ; thence west with said 
parallel to the summit of the Sierra Madre ; 
thence south with the crest of said mountains to 
the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude ; 
thence west with the said parallel to its intersec- 
tion with the boundary line of the State of Cali- 
fornia ; thence with the said boundary line to the 
place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, 
erected into a temporary government by the 
name of the Territory of New-Mexico ; Provided, 
That nothing in this act contained shall be con- 
strued to inhibit the Government of the United 
States from dividing said Territory into two or 
more territories, in such manner and at such 
times as Congress shall deem convenient and 
proper, or from attaching any portion thereof to 
any other Territory or State; Provided further, 
That when admitted as a State, the said Territory, 
or any portion of the same, shall be received into 
the (Jnion, with or without Slavery, as their 
Constitution may prescribe at the time of their 
admission. 

The eighteenth section enacts, that the pro- 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



71 



visions of this act be Ruspcndcd uiifil the bound- 
nry between the United Stntea nnd Iho Stiito of 
Texas kIimII lie iidjimti'd, and wlieii pueli adjust. 
ment shall have Uvi\ etfected, tlie President of 
the United Mates sliall issue liis pmclaniation 
deehiiins lliis aet to be in lull force and opera 
tion. and shall proeeed to appoint the ..theers 
herein provided to bo nppoiuted tor the said 
Territory. 

Approved 8i'|it. 9, 1860. 

ORGANIZATION OF UTAH. 

An Act to cstablibh a Territorial Government for 
Utah. 
Be it enacted bu the Senate and House "f Re- 
presentatives of the United States of America in 
Conisress asscmb/cd. That all that part of the 
Territory of the United .States ineluded within 
(he following; limits, to wit ; bounded on Iho west 
by the State of California, on the north by the 
Territory of Oretjon, on the east by the sunmiit 
of the Hoeky Mountains, and on tlie south by the 
tliirtyseventh parallel of north latitude, be, and 
the "same is hereby, created into a temporary 
government, by the name of the Territory of 
Utah ; and, when admitted as a State, the said 
Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be 
received' into the Union, witli or without Slave- 
ry, as Uieir constitution may prescribe at the 
time of their admission : Provided, That nothing 
in this aet contained shall be construed to pro- 
hibit the govermnent of the United States from 
dividing said Territory into two or more territo- 
ries, in such manner and nt such time as Con- 
gress shall deem convenient and proper, or from 
attaching any portion of said Territory to any 
other State or Territory of the United States. 

[The act proceeds to provide for the appoint- 
ment of a territorial governor, secretary, mar- 
shal, judges, etc., etc., and for the election of a 
couiieil of thirteen, and a house of representatives 
of tweuty-si.x members ; also for a delegate in 
Congress. All recognized citizens to be voters.] 
The governor shall receive an annual salary ot 
fifteen hundred dollars as governor, and one 
thousand dollars us superintendent of Indian 
aftairs. The chief justice and associate justices 
shall each receive an annual salary of eighteen 
hundred dollars. The secretary shall receive an 
annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars. The 
said salaries shall be paid quarter-yearly, at the 
Treasury of the United States. The members of 
the legislative assembly shall be entitled to re- 
ceive eacli three dollars per day during their at- 
tendance at the sessions thereof, and three dol- 
lars each for every twenty miles' travel in going 
to and returning from said sessions, estimated 
according to the nearest usually traveled route. 
Sec. t^ And be it further enacted , That the le- 
gislative power of said Territory shall extend to 
all rightful subjects of legislation, consistent 
•with the Constitution of the United States and 
the provisions of this act ; but no law shall be 
passed interfering with the primary disposal of 
tlie soil ; no tax shall be imjjosed upon the pro- 
perty of tlie United States; nor shall the lands 
or other property of non-residents be taxed 
higher than the lands or other property of resi- 
dents. All the laws passed by the legislative as- 
sembly and Governor shall be submitted to the 
Congress of the United States, and, if disap- 
proved, shall be null and of uo effect. 

Sec. 17. And be it furtlwr enacted, That the 
Constitution and laws of the United States are 
hereby extended over, and declared to be in 
force in, said Territory of Utah, so far as the 
same, or any provision tliereof, may be applica- 
ble. 
Approved Sept. 9, 1850. 

[We have omitted several matter ofcoursc pro- 
viaions.] 



XIV. 

TIIK KANSAS-NKUIIASKA STttl'GGI.E. 

Oi'T of tli(! Ixmi.-^iiuui 'I'tTritory, siiioe the 
iidinis.si()ii lirst of Louisiana and tlit'ii of .Mi.'^- 
souri an Slave 8tatc.><, there had Ixvn foriiKMl 
the Territories of Arkaii.'^a.'^, Iowa, and Miii- 
iiosola ; tlie finst without. atid the two otln-rs 
willi. Congressional iiiliiWition of Slavery. 
Arkansas, in due eour.se, lieeaine a Slave, 
and Iowa a Free, State ; Minnesota was and 
is foUowiiifj surely in the track of Iowa. The 
destiny of one tier of States, frontinu- ui)oii, 
and westward of, the Missis-siiipi, was thus 
settled. What should be the late of the 
ne.\t tier ? 

The rei^ion lying immediately westward of 
Missouri, with much territory north, as well 
as a more elearly defined distriet south of 
it, was lonfj since dedicated to the uses of 
the Aboriii-ines — not merely tho.se who had 
originally iiihal)ited it, but the tribes from 
time to time removed from the State.-! east- 
ward of the Mississippi. Very little, if any, 
of it was legally open to settlement by 
Whites; and, with the exception of the few 
and small military and trading posts thinly 
scattered over its surface, it is probable that 
scarcely two hundred white families were 
located in the spacious wilderness bounded 
by Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota on the 
east, the British pos.sessions on the north, 
the crest of the Rocky Mountains on the 
west, and the settled portion of New-Mexico 
and the line of .36^ 30' on the south, at the 
time wlien Mr. Douglas first, at the session 
of 1852-3, submitted a bill organizing the 
Territory of Nkbra.ska, by which title the 
region above bounded had come to be vague- 
ly indicated. 

This region was indisputably included 
within the scope of the exclusion of Slavery 
from all Federal territory north of M^ 30', 
to which the South had assented by the 
terms of the Missouri compact, in order 
thereby to secure the admission of Missouri 
as a Slave State. Nor was it once inti- 
mated, during the long, earnest, and search- 
ing debate in the Senate on the Compromise 
measures of 1850, that tht adoption of those 
measures, whether together or separately, 
would involve or imply a repeal of the Mis- 
souri Restriction. Wc have seen in our last 
chapter how ]SIr. Clay's original suggestion 
of a compromi.se, which wtus substantially 
that ultimately adopted, was received by the 
Southern Senators who spoke on its intro- 
duction, with hardly a qualification, as a vir- 
tual surrender of all that the South had ever 
claimed with respect to the new territories. 
And, from the beginning to the close of the 
long and able discu.ssion which followed, 
neither friend nor foe of the Compromises, 
nor of any of them, hinted that one effect of 
their adoption would be the lifting of the 
Missouri restriction from the territory now 



72 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



covered by it. When the Compromises of 
1850 were accepted in 1852 by the Na- 
tional Conventions of the two great parties, 
as a settlement of the distracting contro- 
versy therein contemplated, no hint was 
added that the Nebraska region was opened 
thereby to Slavery. 



Several petitions for the organization of 
a Territory westward of Missouri and Iowa 
were presented at the session of 1851-2, but 
no decisive action taken thereon until the 
next session, when, 

Dec. 13^/(.— Mr. W. P. Hall of Mo., pur- 
suant to notice, submitted to the House a 
bill to organize the Territory of Platte, 
•which was read twice, and sent to the Com- 
mittee on Territories. From that Com- 
mittee, 

Feb. 2d, 1853.— Mr. W. A. Riclmrdson of 
111. reported a bill to organize the Territory 
of Nebraska, which was read twice and 
committed. 

Feb. 'Jth. — The bill was ordered to be 
taken out of Committee, on motion of W. 
P. Hall. 

Feb. 10th. — The bill was reported from 
the Committee of the Whole to the House, 
with a recommendation that it do not pass. 

Mr. Richardson moved the previous ques- 
tion, which prevailed. 

Mr. Letcher of Va. moved that the bill do 
lie on tlie table : Lost ; Yeas 49 (mainly 
Southern) ; Nays 107. 

The bill was then engrossed, read a third 
time, and passed ; Yeas 98 ; Nays 43, (as 
before), 

Feb. llth. — The bill reached the Senate 
and was referred to the Committee on Terri- 
tories. 

Feb. 11th.— Mr. Douglas reported it with- 
out amendment. 

March 2nd. — (Last day but one of the 
session), Mr. Douglas moved that the bill be 
taken up : Lost : Yeas 20 ; (all Northern 
but Atchison and Geyer of Mo.) ; Nays 25 ; 
(21 Southern, 4 Northern). 

March 3 )•(/.— ]\lr. Douglas again moved 
that the bill be talien up. 

Mr. Borland of Ark. moved that it do lie 
on the table : Carried : Yeas 23 ; (all South- 
ern but 4;) Nays 17; (all Northern but 
Atchison and Geyer). So the bill was put 
to sleep for the session. 

On the motion to take up — Mr. Rusk of 
Texas objecting— Mr. Atchison said : 

" I must ask the indulgence of tlie Senate to 
say one word in relation to this matter. Perhaps 
there is not a Stale in the Union more deeply in 
tcrcsted in this question than the State of Mis- 
Eouri. If not the largest, I will say the best, 
jyortion of that Territory, perhaps tHfe only por- 
tion of it that in half a century will become a 
State, lies immediately west of the State of Mis- 
souri. It is only a question of time, whether 
we will organize the territory at this scssiou of 
Congress, or whether wc will do it at the uext 



session; and, for my own part, I acknowledge 
now that, as the Senator from Illinois well knows, 
when I came to this city, at the beginning of the 
last session, 1 was perhaps as much opposed to 
the proposition, as the Senator from Texas now 
is. The Senator from Iowa knows it ; and it wan 
for rea.fons ivhich I will not now mention or snff- 
prest. But, sir, I have from reflection and inves- 
tigation in my own mind, and from the opinions 
of others — my constituents, whose opinions I am 
bound to respect — come to the conclusion that 
now is the time for the organization of thi^ Ter- 
ritory. It is the most propitious time. The trea- 
ties with the various Indian tribes, the titles to 
whose possessions must be extinguished, can 
better be made now than at any future time ; for, 
as the question is agitated, and as it is under- 
stood, white men, speculators, will interpose, and 
interfere, and the longer it is postpoiK'd the more 
we will have to fear from them, and the more diffi- 
cult it will be to extinguish the Indian title in that 
country, and the harder the terms to be imposed. 
Therefore, Mr. President, for this reason, without 
going into detail, I am willing now that the ques- 
tion shall he taken, whether we will proceed to 
the consideration of the bill or not." 

The meaning is here diplomatically veiled, 
yet is perfectly plain. Gen. Atchison had been 
averse to organizing this Territory until he 
could procure a relaxation of the Missouri 
Restriction as to Slavery ; but, seeing no 
present hope of this, he Avas willing to 
waive the point, and assent to an organiza- 
tion under a bill silent with respect to 
Slavery, and of course leaving the Missouri 
Restriction unimpaired. 

Gen. Pierce was inaugurated President 
on the 4th March, 1853 ; and, in his Inaugu- 
ral Address, referred to the discussions con- 
cerning Slavery and the Compromises of 
1850 in the following terms : 

" I believe that involuntary servitude, as it ex- 
ists in different States of this confederacy, is re- 
cognized by the Constitution. I believe that it 
stands like any other admitted right, and that the 
States where it exists are entitled to eiticientreme- 
dics to enforce the constitutional provisions. I 
hold that the laws of IS.'ifl, commonly called the 
•' Compromise Measures," are strictly constitu- 
tional, and to be unhesitatingly carried into etfect. 
I believe that the constituted authorities of this 
Republic are bound to regard the rights of the 
South in this respect, as they would view any 
other legal and constitutional right, ani^that the 
laws to enforce them should be respected and 
obe^'ed, not with a reluctance encouraged bj' ab- 
stract opinions as to their propriety in a different 
state of society, but cheerfuily, and according 
to the decisions of the tribunal to which their ex- 
position belongs. Such have been, and are, my 
convictions, and upon them shall I act. I fer- 
vently hope that the question is at rest, and that 
no sectional, or ambitious, or fanatical excitement 
may again threaten the durability of our institu- 
tions, or obscure the light of our prosperity." 

The XXXIIId Congress assembled at 
Washington, Dec. 5th, 1853, with a large 
Administration majority in either House. 
Linn Boyd of Ky. was chosen Speaker of 
the House. The President's Annual Mes- 
sage contained the following allusion to the 
subject of Slavery : 
" It is no part of my purpose to give promi- 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



73 



ncnrc to any sulyiH^t which mnv properly be ro- 
panled (is «ot at rest by llio di'libcriito juilfrnu'iit 
of tlio pcnpli'. lUU. whih) tho i)rosi'nt is bri^'lit 
witli promiKo, ritul the tiilurc full of ilcmaiKl and 
iiuliicfinciilrt fur the oxt-rcisu of active inlcl- 
li^joiicc, the past can never t)c without nscfiii Ics 
Son:* of aihiumitiuii and instniction. Ifil!<daii- 
Hei-s S(■r^^• nut as bcai'onH, thoy will ovidcntly 
fail til fullill the olycct of a wise desi;;ii. When 
the (^rave («hall have closed over all, who are now 
cndeuvorinf; toineol the obli^'ation:^ of duty, the 
year IX'ti) will bo recurred to an a period tilled with 
anxioim apprehension. A suct'cssfiil war hud 
juft terininale<i. I'eacc brouj^ht with it a vast 
uuj,'nient«lion of territory. Distiirhiiij; ipiestioii.s 
aro.se, Ix'uiiii}^ ujxin the domestic iiif litulions of 
one portion of the confederacy, and iiividvin-^ 
the ciin.slitutional rij:;ht.s of the Stales. Hut. not- 
wilhstandin;^ ditferences of opinion and seiitimeiit 
which then existed in relation to details and 
specific jirovisions, the aeiiuieseeneo of distin- 
guished citizens, whoso devotion to tho Union 
ctui never be doubted, lian f,'iveii renewed vi^or 
to our institutions, and restori'd a sense of repo.-c 
and security to the public mind throughout the 
confederacv. That this repose is to sutler no 
shock during my oflicial term, if I have power 
to avert it, those who placed me hero may be as- 
8Uix;d."' 

Dec. loth. — Mr. A. C. Dodge of Iowa sub- 
mitted to the Senate a bill (No. 22) " To 
organize the Territory of Nebraska," which 
was read twice, and referred to the Com- 
mittee oil Territories. 

Jan. 4//i. — Mr. Douglas, from said Com- 
mittee, reported said bill with amendments, 
which were printed. The following is the 
accompanying Report : 

The Comniittec on Territories, to whom was re- 
ferixHl a bill for au act to establish the Terri- 
tory of Nebraska, have given the same that 
serious and deliberate consideration which its 
great importance demands, and beg leave to 
report it back to the Senate with various amend- 
ments, in the form of a substitute for the bill : 

The principal amendments which your com- 
mittee deem it their duty to commend to the fa- 
vorable action of the Senate, in a special report, 
are those in which the principles established by 
the Compromise Measures of 18.50, so far as they 
are applicable to territorial organizations, are 
proposed to bo affirmed and carried into practi- 
cal operation within the limits of the new Terri- 
tory. 

The wisdom of those measures is attested, not 
less by their salutarv and beneficial eft'ects, in 
allaying sectional agitation and restoring peace 
and luuniony to an irritated and distracted peo- 
ple, than by the cordial and almost universal 
approbation with which they have been received 
and sanctioned by the whole country. In the 
judgment of your Committee, those measures 
were intended to have a far more comprehensive 
and enduring efl'ect than tlie mere adjustment of 
difficulties arising out of the recent acquisition 
of Mexican territory. Tiiey were designed to 
establish certain great principles, which would 
not only furnish adequate remedies for existing 
evils, but, in all time to come, avoid the perils ot 
similar agitation, by withdrawing the question of 
Slavery from the Halls of Congress and the po- 
litical arena, and committing it to the arbitration 
of tliose who were immediately interested in, and 
alone responsible for, its eoiiseiiueiices. With a 
view of i-outonuiiig their action to \\hiit they re- 
gard as tho settled policy of the Government, sanc- 



tioned by tho approving Voire of the Amoriran 
People, yoin- Committee have deemed it thcirdiily 
to incorporati' and ]icr|ietuafe, in their territorial 
bill, theprincipjen andN|iirit of tliOH<' iriea.»ureH If 
any other ('onsidrration were necessary to render 
the pro|priety of this course imperative iijion the 
(Nmmiillee, Ilu y may lie found in the fact that tho 
Nebraska coiinliy occupies the i<aino relative 
position to the Slavery question, as did New- 
Alexico and Utah, when thoBo Territories were 
organized. 

It was a disputed point, whctlier Slavery wna 
prohibited by law in the country accjiiirerf from 
Mexico. On the one hand, it was contended, ae 
a legal ipro|)osition, that Slavery, having been 
prohibited by the eiiactinents of Mexico, necoru- 
ing to the laws of nations, we received the country 
with all its local laws and domestic iiistitutionn 
attiiche<l to the soil, so far as they did not confliet 
with the Constitution of the United States ; and 
that a law either protect ing or prohibiting Shi very, 
was not repugnant to that instrument, as wa.i 
evidenced by tiie fact that one-half of the States 
of the Union tolerated, while tin; other half pro- 
hibited, the institution of Slavery. On lln; other 
hand, it was insisted that, by virtue of the Con- 
stitution nt' tho United States, every citizen had 
a right to remove to any Territory of the Union, 
and carry his property with him'iinder the pro- 
tection of law, whether that projierty consisted 
of persons or things. The difficulties arising 
from this diversity of opinion, were greatly ag- 
gravated !)}• tho fact that there were many per- 
sons on both sides of the legal controversy, who 
were unwilling to abide the decision of the courts 
on tho legal mattens in disjiute ; thus, among 
those who claimed that the Mexican laws were 
still in force, and, consequently, that Slavery was 
already prohibited in those Territories by valid 
enactment, there were many who insisted ujion 
Congress making the matter certain, by enacting 
another prohibition. In like miinner, some of 
those who argued that Mexican law had ceased 
to have any binding force, and that the Constitu- 
tion tolerated and protected Slave projperty in 
those territories, were unwilling to trust the deci- 
sion of the courts u|)on the point, and insisted 
that Congress should, by direct enactment, re- 
move all legal obstacles to the introduction of 
Slaves into tliose Territories. 

Such being the character of the controversy in 
respect to the territory acquired from Mexico, a 
similar question has arisen in regard to the right 
to hold slaves in the Territory of Nebraska, when 
the Indian laws shall be withdrawn, and the 
country thrown open to emigration and setlle- 
nient. By the 8lli section of " an act to autlmrize 
the people of Missouri Territory to form a Con- 
stitution and State Government, and for the ad- 
mission of such State into the Union on an ecpial 
footing with the original States, and to prohibit 
Slavery in certain Territories," ajiproved March 
6th, J820, it was ])roviiled; "That in all that ter- 
riU'ry ceded by Fiance to the United States under 
the name of Louisiana, which lies north of 36 
degrees 30 minutes north latitude, not included 
within the limits of the State contemplated by 
this act. Slavery and involuntary servitude, 
otherwise than in the punishment of crimes 
whereof the parties shall have been duly con- 
victed, shall be, and are hereby, prohibited : Pro- 
vidcil ir/irtii/s, That any person escajiing into the 
same, from whom labor or service is lawfully 
claimed in any State or Territory of the United 
States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, 
and conveyed to the persons claiming his or her 
labor or service, as aforesaid." 

Under this section, as in the caseof the Mexican 
law in Ntw-Mexico and Utah, it is a disputed 
point whether Shivery is juohibited in the Ne- 
braska country by valid enactment. The deci- 



74 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



sion of this question involves the constitutional 
power of Conj,'rcss to pass laws prescribing and 
regulating the domestic institutions of the vai-ious 
Territories of the Union. In the opinion of those 
eminent stsitcsinen who hold that Congress is 
invested with no rightful authority to legislate 
upon the subject of Slavery in the Territories, 
the 8th secti('n of the act preparatory to the ad- 
mission of Missouri is null and void; while the 
prevailing sentiment in large portions of the 
Union sustains the doctrine that the Constitu- 
tion of the United States secures to every citizen 
an inalienable right to move into any of the 
Territories with his property, of whatever kind 
and description, and to hold and enjoy the same 
under the sanction of law. Your Connnittee do 
not feel themselves called upon to enter upon the 
discussion of these controverted questions. They 
involve the same grave issues which produced 
the agitation, the sectional strife, and the fearful 
struggle of J 850. As Congress deemed it wise 
and prudent to refrain from deciding the matters 
in controversy then, either by affirming or repeal- 
ing the Mexican laws, or by an act declaratory 
of the true intent of the Constitution, and the 
extent of the protection atibrded by it to Slave 
property in the Territories, so your Committee 
are not prepared to recommend a departure from 
the course pursued on that memorable occasion, 
either by affirming or repealing the 8th section 
of the Missouri act, or by any act declaratory of 
the meaning of the Constitution in respect to the 
legal points in dispute. 

Your Committee deem it fortunate for the 
peace of the country, and the security of the 
Union, that the controversy then resulted in the 
adoption of the Compromise Measures, which 
the two great political parties, with singular 
unanimity, have affirmed as a cardinal article of 
their faith, and proclaimed to the world as a 
final settlement of the controversy and an end 
of the agitation. A due respect, therefore, for 
the avowed opinions of Senators, as well as a 
proper sense of patriotic duty, enjoins upon your 
Committee the propriety and necessity of a strict 
adherence to the principles, and even a literal 
adoption of the enactments of that adjustment, 
in all their territorial bills, so far as the same are 
not locally inapplicable. Those enactments em- 
brace, among other things, less material to the 
matters under consideration, the following pro- 
visions : 

When admitted as a State, the said Territory, 
or any portion of the same, shall be received into 
the Union, with or without Slavery, as their cou- 
etitution may prescribe at the time of their ad- 
mission ; 

That the legislative power and authority of 
said Territory shall be vested in the Governor 
and a Legislative Assembly ; 

That tlie legislative power of said Territory 
shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation, 
consistent with the Constitution of the United 
States, and the provisions of this act ; but no 
law shall be passed interfering with the primary 
disposal of the soil ; no tax shall bo imposed 
upon the property of the United States ; nor 
shall the lands or other property of non-residents 
be taxed higher than the lands or other property 
of residents. 

_ Writs of error and appeals from the final deci- 
sions of Said Supreme Court shall be allowed, 
and may be taken to the Supreme Court of the 
United States in the .same manner and under the 
Eamc- regulations as from the Circuit Courts of 
the United States, where the value of the pro- 
perty or amount in controversy, to be ascertained 
by the oath or affirmation of either party, or 
other competent witness, shall exceed one thou- 
sand dollars ; except only that, in all cases involv- 
ing title to slaves, the said writs of error or ap- 



peals shall be allowed and decided by the said 
Supreme Court, without regard to the value of 
the matter, property, or title in controversy ; and 
except, also, that a writ of error or appeal shall 
also be allowed to the Supreme Court of the 
United States from the decisions of the said 
Supreme Court by this act, or of any judge 
thereof, or of the district courts created by this 
act, or of any judge thereof, upon any., writ of 
habcnx corpus involving the question of personal 
freedom; and each of the said district courts 
shall have and exerci.se the same jurisdiction, in 
all cases arising under the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, as is vested in the 
circuit and district courts of the United States ; 
and the said supreme and district courts of the 
said territory, and the respective judges thereof, 
shall and may grant writs oi habeas corpun, in all 
cases in which the same are granted by the 
judges of the United States in the District of 
Columbia. 

To which may be added the following proposi- 
tion affirmed by the act of 1850, known as the 
fugitive slave law . 

That the provisions of the " act respecting 
fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from 
the service of their masters," approved Febru- 
ary 12, 1793, and the provisions of the act to 
amend and supplementary to the aforesaid act, 
approved September 18, 1850, shall extend to, 
and be in force in, all the organized Territories, 
as well as in the various States of the Union. 

From these provisions, it is apparent that the 
Compromise Measures of 1850 affirm, and rest 
upon, the following propositions : 

First. — That all questions pertaining to 
Slavery in the Territories, and the new States 
to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the deci- 
sion of the people residing therein, by their ap- 
propriate representatives, to be chosen by them 
for that purpose. 

Second. — That " ail cases involving title to 
slaves," and " questions of personal freedom," 
are to be referred to the adjudication of the local 
tribunals, with the right of appeal to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

Third. — That the provisions of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, in respect to fugitives 
from service, is to be carried into faithful exe- 
cution in all " the original Territories," the same 
as in the States. 

The substitute for the bill which your Com- 
mittee have prepared, and which is commended 
to the favorable action of the Senate, proposes to 
cai-ry these propositions and principles into prac- 
tical operation, in the precise language of the 
Compromise Measures of 1850. 



Jan. 2Uh. — The bill thus reported was 
con.sidered in Committee of the Whole aud 
postponed to Monday next, when it was 
made the order of the day. 

The bill was further considered Jan. 31st, 
Feb. 3rd, Feb. 5th, and Feb. 6th, when an 
amendment reported by Mr. Douglas, de- 
claring the Missouri Restriction on Slavery 
" inoperative and void," being under consid- 
eration, Mr. Chase of Ohio moved to strike 
out the assertion that said llestriction 

" was superseded by the principles of the legis- 
lation of 1850, commonly called the Compromise 
Measures." 

This motion was defeated by Yeas 13; 
Nays 30, as follows : 



TUE KANSAS-NEDRASKA STRUGGLE. 



75 



YEAS— To strike out. 



Messrs. Allen, Ohio, 
Cn88, Mirk. 
ChiiKO, Ohio, 
Everett, Mass. 
Fish, iV. Y. 
Foot, Vf 



Ilainlin, Me. 
Sowiird, .V. V. 
Smith, I'onn. 
Stuart, Milk. 
Smniicr, Mass. 
WiuU\ Ohio, 



Wiilkcr, H7sr.— 13. 



NA YS— Against 

Messrs. Admno, Miss. 
Aloiiifton, Mo. 
l{u(l;,'t>r, .V. C. 
Kiivuni, Jh-l. 
Ueil, Tain. 
Ik'iijiiiiiiii, La. 
lirh^M, Ind. 
Uroillicncl, Pa. 
Hutler, N. C. 
Cluy, (C. C.) Ala. 
Dawson, (ia. 
Di.xon, Ky. 
l)o(if;o, loira, 
l)ou,<,'la8, ///. 
Evaus, S. C. 



striking out : 
Fitzpatrick, Ala. 
(^.cyor, Mo. 
Hunter. Va. 
Jones, (,I. C.) Tcnn. 
MttUory, Fla. 
Mason. ]'a. 
Norris. .V. //. 
Pettit, In,l. 
Sebiintian, Ar/c. 
Shit'lils, ///. 
Slidi'll. La. 
Thompson, Ky. 
Toueey, Conn. 
Weller, CaL 
Williams, N. H. 



30. 



Feb. \v)lh. — The bill having been dis- 
cussed daily until now, Mr. Douglas moved 
to strike out of his amendment the words 
above quoted (which the Senate had re- 
fused to strike out on Mr. Chase's motion,) 
and insert instead the following : 

" Which, bcinn; inconsistent with the principle 
of non-iuterventiou by Congress with Slavery in 
the States and Territories, as recof^uized by the 
legislation of IS.jO, (commonly called the Com- 
promise Pleasures,) is hereby declared inopera- 
tive and void ; it being the true intent and mean- 
ing of this act not to legislate Slavery into any 
Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, 
but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to 
form and regulate tlieir domestic institutions in 
their own way, subject only to the Constitution 
of the United States" — 

■which prevailed — Yeas 35 ; Nays 10 — as 
follows : 

YEAS — For Dous:la3's new Amendment : 



Messrs. Adams, 
Atdiison, 
Bavard, 
Biil, 

Benjamin, 
Brodheud, 
Brown, 
Butler. 
Cass, 
Clayton, 
Dawson, 
Dixon, 

Dodge of Iowa, 
Douglas, 
Evans, 
Fitzpatrick, 
Goyer, 

Williams 



Gwin, 
Hunter, 
Johnson, 
Jones of Iowa, 
Jones of Teun. 
Mason, 
Morion, 
Norris, 
Pearcc, 
Pettit, 
Pratt, 
Sebastian 
Slidell, 
Stuart, 

Thomnson of Ky. 
Toombs, 
Wellcr, 
-35. 



NA YS — Against said Amendment : 

Messrs. Allen, Foot, 

Chase, lloifston. 

Dodge of Wise. Seward, 

Everett, Sunnier, 

Fish, Wade— 10. 

[Note. — Prior to this move of Mr. Douglas, 
Mr. Dixon (Whig) of Ky. had moved to insert a 
clause directly and plainly repealing the Mis- 



Kouri H<^triction. Mr. Di.xon thought if that was 
the object, (am! ho was in favor of it), it nhould 
bo approached in a direct and ninnly way. Ho 
was assailed for this in The Union new«pa])er 
next morning ; but his suggeolion was substau- 
tially adopted by Douglas, after a brief hesita- 
tion. Mr. Di.von'rt propoHition, Laving been 
made in Committee, docs not appear in the Jour- 
nal of the Senate, or it would here be given in 
terais.] 

The bill was further di.scus-sed daily until 
March 2tul, when the vote was taken on Mr. 
Chiu-^e's amendment, to add to yec. 14 the 
following words : 

" Under irhirh the people of the Territory, 
throiiick thiir appropriate representatives, may, 
if they scejit,pruhibil tlie existence of Slavery 
therein" — 

which was rejected : Yeas 10 ; Nays 30, as 
follows : 

YEAS — For Mr. Chase's Amendment: 



Messrs. Chase, 

Dodge of Wise. 

Fcssendcn, 

Fish, 

Foot, 



Hamlin, 
Seward, 
Smith, 
Sumner, 
Wade— 10. 



NA YS — Against Cliase's Amendment : 

Hunter, 

Johnson, 

Jones of Iowa, 

Jones of Tcnn. 

Ma^on, 

Morion, 

Norris, 

Pettit, 

Pratt, 

Kusk, 

Sebastian, 

Shields, 

Slidell, 

Stuart. 



Messrs. Adams, 
Atchison, 
Badger, 
Bell, 

Benjamin, 
Brodhead, 
Brown, 
Butler, 
Clay, (C. C.) 
Clayton, 
Dawson, 
Dixon, 

Dodge of Iowa, 
Douglas, 
Evans, 
Fitzpatrick, 
Gwin, 
Houston, 



Toucey, 
Walker, 
Wellcr, 
Williams — 36. 



]\Ir. Badger of N. C. moved to add to the 
aforesaid section : 

" Provided, That nothing herein contained 
shall be construed to revive or put in force any 
laic or regulation which may have c.visted prior 
to the act tf^th of March, l'6.iQ, either protecting, 
establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing Sla- 
very." 

Carried ; Yeas 35 ; Nays 6, as follows : 
YEAS — For Badger's Amendment : 



Messrs. Atchison, 
Badger, 
Bell, 

Benjamin, 
Brodhead, 
Butler, 
Clay, 
Dawson, 
Di.xon, 

Dodge of Iowa, 
Douglas, 
Evans, 
Fish, 
Fitzpatrick, 



Houston, 

Hunter, 

Jones of Iowa, 

Jones of Tenn. 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Norris, 

Pettit, 

Pratt, 

Seward, 

Shields, 

Slidell, 

Smith. 

Stuart, 



76 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



Foot, Toucey, 

Gwin, Walker, 

Hamlin, ' Weller, 

Williams — 35. 

NAYS — Against said Amoidment : 

Messrs. Adams, Johnson, 

Brown, Rusk, 

Dodj,'e of Wise. Sebastian — 6. 

Mr. Clayton now moved to strike out so 
much of said Douglas amendment as per- 
mits emigrants from Europe, who shall have 
declared their intention to become citizens, 
to vote : Carried ; Yeas 23 ; Nays 21 — 
as follows: 

YEAS — For Clayton's Amendment : 
Messrs. Adams, Dixon, 

Atchison, Evans, 

Badger, Fitzpatrick, 

Bell, Houston, 

Benjamin, Hunter, 

Bro'dhead, Johnson, 

Brown, Jones of Tenn. 

Butler, Mason, 

Clay, Morton, 

Clayton, Pratt, 

Dawson, Sebastian, 

Slidell— 23. 

NAYS — Against Clayton'' s Amendment : 

Messrs. Chase, Norris, 

Dodge of Wise. Pettit, 

Dodge of Iowa, Seward, 

Douglas, Shields, 

Fessenden, Smith, 

Fish, Stuart, 

Foot, Sunmer, 

Gwin, Toucey, 

Hamlin, Wade, 

Jones of Iowa, Walker, 

Williams— 21. 
Mr. Chase moved to amend, by provid- 
ing for the appointment of three Commis- 
sioners residing in the Territory to organ- 
ize the Territory, divide it into election 
districts, notify an election on the first Mon- 
day in September then ensuing, etc., at 
Vi'hich election the people should choose 
their own Governor, as well as a Territo- 
rial Legislature — the Governor to serve for 
two years, and the Legislature to meet not 
later than May, 1855. 

This extension of the principle of 
" Squatter Sovereignty" was defeated — 
Teas 10 ; Nays 30 — as follows : 
YEAS— To enable the People of the Territo- 
ry to choose their own Governor, etc. 

Messrs. Chase, Seward, 

Fessenden, Shields, 
Foot, Smith, 

Hamlin, Sumner, 

Norris, Wade — 10. 

NAYS — Against said proposition: 



Messrs. Atchison, 
Badger, 
Bell, 

Benjamin, 
Brodhead, 
Brown, 
Butler, 
Clay, 
Dawson, 
Dixon, 



Gwin, 

Houston, 

Hunter, 

Johnson, 

Jones of Iowa, 

Jones of Tenn. 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Pettit, 

Pratt, 



Dodge of Wise. 
Dodge of Iowa, 
Douglas, 
Evans, 
Fitzpatrick, 



Rusk, 
Sebastian, 
Slidell, 
Stuart, 
Williams— 30. 



Mr. Chase then moved to amend the 
Boundary section of Mr. Douglas's amend- 
ment, so as to have but one Territory 
named Nebraska, instead of two, entitled 
respectively, Nebraska and Kansas ; which 
was defeated — Yeas 8 ; Nays 34 — as fol- 
lows : 

YEAS — For having but one Territory ; 

Messrs. Chase, Seward, 

Fessenden, Smith, 

Foot, Sumner, 

Hamlin, Wade— 8. 



NA YS — For severing 


Nebraska fr 


Kansas 




Messrs. Adams, 


Houston, 


Atchison, 


Hunter, 


Badger, 


Johnson, 


Bell, 


Jones of Iowa, 


Benjamin, 


Jones of Tenn. 


Brodhead, 


Mason, 


Brown, 


Morton, 


Butler, 


Norris, 


Clay, 


Pettit, 


Dawson, 


Pratt, 


Dixon, 


Kusk, 


Dodge of Wise. 


Sebastian, 


Dodge of Iowa, 


Shields, 


Douglas, 


Slidell, 


Evans, 


Stuart, 


Fitzpatrick, 


Walker, 


Gwin, 


Williams— 34. 



Mr. Douglas's amendment was then 
agreed to, and the bill reported from the 
Committee of the Whole to the Senate. 

A motion to strike out the amendment, 
allowing emigrant aliens who have declared 
their intention to become citizens to vote, 
was agreed to — Yeas 22 ; Nays 20 — as 
follows : 

YEAS — To strike out said provision : 

Messrs. Adams, 
Atchison, 
Badger, 
Bell, 
Benjamin, 



Brodhead, 

Brown, 

Butler, 

Clay, 

Dawson, 

Dixon, 



Evans, 

Fitzpatrick, 

Houston, 

Hunter, 

Johnson, 

Jones of Tenn. 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Pratt, 

Sebastian, 

Slidell— 22. 



NA YS — Against striking out : 

Messrs. Chase, Norris, 

Dodge of Wise. Pettit, 

Dodge of Iowa, Seward, 

Douglas, Shields, 

Fessenden, Smith, 

Fish, Stuart, 

Foot, ' Sumner, 

Hamlin, Wade, 

James, Walker, 

Jones of Iowa, Williams — 20. 

The question on the engrossment of the 
bill was now reached, and it was carried — 
Yeas 29 ; Nays 12 — as follows : 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



77 



YEAS— To engross the bill for its third 
reading : 



Messrs. Adams, 




Gwin, 


AlcliiKon, 




lluiitLr, 


Hiidj^or, 




Jolinsoii, 


lieiijiiinin, 




Jones of Iowa, 


limdbeud, 




Jones of Tunu. 


Urmvii, 




Mason, 


IJiitler, 




Morton, 


C'liiy, 




N orris, 


Dawson, 




I'eltit, 


Dixon, 




I'ratt, 


Dod^'o of Iowa, 


Sebastian, 


Doiit,'la8, 




Sliiflds, 


Evans, 




Slidoll, 


Fitzputridc, 




Stuart, 


W 


lliains- 


-•-I'd. 


NAYS — Against the engrossment : 


Messrs. Clinse, 




James, 


Dodgo of Wise. 


Seward, 


Fesiioiiden, 




Smith, 


Fish, 




Sumner, 


Foot. 




Wade, 


liiuiilin. 




Wallver— 12. 



March 'inL — The rule assigning Fridays 
for the consideration of private bills, liaving- 
been suspended, on motion of Mr. Badger, 
the Senate proceeded to put the Nebraska- 
Kansas bill on its final passage, when a long 
and earnest debate ensued. At a late hour 
of the night, Mr. Seward of N. Y. ad- 
dressed the Senate, in opposition to the bill, 
as follows : 

Jlr. I'liEsiDKNT :— I rise with no purpose of 
further resistin;^ or even dehiying the passage 
of tliis bill. Jjct its advocates" have only a lit- 
tle patience, an<l they will soon reach the object 
for which they have strutrijlcd so earnestly and 
BO lou^'. The sun has set for the last time upon 
the guaranteed and certain liberties of all the un- 
settled and unorganized portions of the Ameri- 
can continent that lie within the jurisdiction of 
the United States. To-morrow's sun will rise in 
dim eclipse over them. How long that obscu- 
ration shall last, is known only to the Power 
that directs and controls all huma\i events 
For myself, I know only this— that now no hu- 
man power will prevent its coming on, and that 
its passing off will bo hastened and secured by 
others than those now here, and perhaps by only 
those belonging to future generations. 

Sir, it would be almost factious to offer fur- 
ther resistance to this measure here. Indeed, suc- 
cessful resistance was never expected to be made 
in this Hall. The SenateHoor is an old battle- 
ground, on which have been fought many con- 
tests, and always, at least since 18-20, with for- 
tune adverse to the cause of equal and universal 
freedom. We were only a lew here who engaged 
in that cause in the beginning of this contest. 
All that we could hope to do— all that we did 
hope to do — was to organize and to prepare the 
issue for the House of Keprescntatives, to which 
the country would look for its decision as authori- 
tative, and to awaken the country that it might 
be ready for the appeal which would be made, 
whatever the decision of Congress might be. We 
are no stronger now. Only fourteen at the first, 
it will be fortunate if, among the ills and acci- 
dents which surround us, we shall mainUiin that 
number to the end. 

We are on the eve of the consummation of a 
great national transaction — a transaction which 
will close a cycle in the historv of mn- country — 
and it is impossible not to desn-e to pause a mo- 
ment and survey the eceue around us, and the 



prospect before ua. However obscure wo may 
nidivi<lually be, our connection with this great 
transaction will perpetuate our names for tho 
nraise or for the cen^uro of future ages, and iier- 
liaps in regions fur remote. If, then, wo liuu no 
other nu)tivc for our actions but that of an hon- 
est desire for a just fame, we could not lie indif- 
I'eient to that scene and lliat prospect. Hut indi- 
vidual interests anct ambition sink into insignifi- 
cance in view of the interests of our country and 
of maidiind. Tliest! interests awaken, nt least in 
me, an intense nolicilude. 

It was said by some in the be^^'inning, and it 
has been said by others later in this debate, that 
it was doubll'nl whether it would be the cause 
of Slavery or tlu^ cause of Freedom that would 
gain advantages from the passage of this bill. I 
do not liiid it necessary to be censorious, nor 
even unjust to others, in order that my r)wn 
course nuiy bo approved. 1 am sure that tho 
honorable Senator from Illinois [Mr. Douglas] 
did not mean that the Slave States should gain 
an advantage over the Free Slates; for he dis- 
claimed it wlien he introduced the bill. I believe, 
in all candor, that the honorabh; Senator from 
(ieorgia [Air. Toombs], who comes out at tho 
close of the battle as one of the chiefest leaders 
of the victorious ptu'ty, is sincere in declaring his 
own opinion that the Slave States will tjain no 
unjust advantage over the Free States, becau.se 
he disclaims it as a triumph in their behalf. Not- 
withstanding all this, however, what has occur- 
red here and in the country, during this contest, 
has compelled a conviction that Slavery will gain 
somelliing, and Freedom will endure a severe, 
though 1 hope not an irretrievable, loss. The 
slaveholdiiig States are pa.ssive, quiet, content, 
and satisfied with the prospective boon, and tho 
Free .States are excited and alarmed with fearful 
forebodings and apprehensions. The impatience 
for the speedy passag(^ of the bill, manifested by 
its friends, betrays a knowledge that this is the 
condition of public sentiment in the Free States. 
They thought in the beginning that it was neces- 
sary to guard the measure bj' inserting the Clay- 
ton amendment, which would exclude unnatur- 
alized foreign iidiabitants of the Territories from 
the right of suffrage. And now they seem willing, 
with almost perfect unanimity, to relinquish that 
safeguard, rather than to delay the adoption of 
the principal measure for at most a year, per- 
hai)s for only a week or n day. Suppose that 
the Senate should adhere to that condition, which 
so lately was thought so wise and so important 
— what then '/ The bill could only go back to 
the House of Eopresentatives, which nuist either 
yield or insist ! In the one ease or in the other, 
a decision in favor of the bill would be secured; 
for even if the House should disagree, the Senate 
would have time to recede. But the majority 
will hazard nothing, even on a prospect so cer- 
tain as this. They will recede at once, without 
a moment's further struggle, from the condition, 
and thus secure the passage of this bill now, to- 
night. Why such haste? Even if the question 
were to go to the country before a final dc<ision 
here, what would there be wrong in that ? There 
is no man living who will say that the country 
anticipated, or that he anticipated, tho agitation 
of this measure in Congress, when this Congress 
was elected, or even when it assembled in De- 
cember last. 

Under such circumstances, and in the midst of 
agitation, and excitement, and debates, it is only 
fair to say, that certainly the country has not 
decided iii favor of the bill. Tho refusal, then, to 
let the question go to the country is a conclusive 
proof that the Slave States, as represented hero, 
expect from the jiassage of this bill what the Free 
Stales insist that they will lose by it — an advan- 
tage, a material uUvautage, uud uot a Uicro al> 



78 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



stractiou. There are men in the Slave States, as 
in the Free States, who insist ahvays too pertina- 
ciously upon mere abstractions. But that is not 
the policy of the Slave States to-day. They are 
in earnest in seeking for, and securing, an ob- 
ject, and an important one. I believe they arc 
going to have it. I do not know how long the 
advantage gained will last, nor how great or 
comprehensive it will be. Every Senator who 
agrees with me in opinion must feel as I do — 
that under such circumstances he can forego 
nothing that can be done decently, with due 
respect to diflVrence of opinion, and consistently 
witn the constitutional and settled rules of legis- 
lation, to place the true merits of the question be- 
fore the country. Questions sometimes occur 
which seem to have two right sides. Such were 
the questiou.s that divided the Enghsh nation be- 
tween Pitt and Fox— such the contest between 
the assailant and the defender of Quebec. The 
judgment of the world was suspended by its 
Bympathies, and seemed ready to descend in fa- 
vor of him who should be most gallant in con- 
duct. And so, when both fell with equal chival- 
ry on the same field, the survivors united in 
raising a common monument to the glorious but 
rival memories of Wolfe and Montcalm. But 
this contest involves a moral question. The 
Slave States so present it. They maintain that 
African Slavery is not erroneous, not unjust, not 
inconsistent with the advancing cause of human 
nature. Since they so regard it, I do not expect 
to see statesmen representing those States indif- 
ferent about a vindication of this system by the 
Congress of the United States. On the other 
hand, we of the Free States regard Slavery as er- 
roneous, unjust, oppressive, and therefore abso- 
lutely inconsistent with the principles of the 
American Constitution and Government. \yho 
•will expect us to be indifferent to the decisions 
of the American people and of mankind on such 
an issue ? 

Again : there is suspended on the issue of this 
contest the political equilibrium between the 
Free and the Slave States. It is no ephemeral 
question, no idle question, whether Slavery shall 
go on increasing its influence over the central 
power here, or whether Freedom shall gain the 
ascendancy. I do not expect to see statesmen 
of the Slave States indifferent on so momentous 
a question, and as little can it be expected that 
those of the Free States will betray their own 
great cause. And now it remains for me to declare, 
in view of the decision of this controversy so near 
at hand, that I have seen nothing and heard no- 
thing during its progress to change the opinions 
which at the curliest proper period I deliberately 
expressed. Certainly, I have not seen the evi- 
dence then promised, that the Free States would 
acquiesce in the measure. As certainly, too, I 
may say that I have not seen the fulfillment of the 
promise that the history of the last thirty years 
would be revised, corrected, and amended, and 
that it would then appear that the country, dur- 
ing all that period, had been resting in prosperity, 
and contentment, and peace, not upon a_ valid, 
constitutional, and irrevocable compromise be- 
tween the Slave States and the Free States, but 
upon an unconstitutional and false, and even iu- 
famou.s, act of Congressional usurpation. 

On the contrary, I am now, if possible, more 
than ever satisfied that, after all this debate, the 
history of the country will go down to posterity 
just as it stood before, carrymg to them the ever- 
lasting facts, that until 1820 the Congress of the 
United States legislated to prevent the introduc- 
tion of Slavery into new Territories whenever 
that object was [jracticable ; and that in that year 
they so far modified that policy, under alarming 
apprehensions of civil convulsion, by a constitu- 
tional enactment in the character of a compact, 



as to admit Missouri a new Slave State, but 
ujion the express condition, stipulated in favor 
of the Free States, that Slavery should be forever 
prohibited in all the residue of the existing and 
unorganized Territories of the United States 
lying north of the parallel of 3G deg. 30 min. north 
latitude. Certainly, I find nothing to win my 
favor toward the bill in the proposition of the 
Senator from Maryland [Mr. Pearce] to restore 
the Clayton amendment, which was struck out 
in the House of Kepresentatives. So far from 
voting for that proposition, I shall vote against 
it now, as I did when it Avas under consideration 
here before, in accordance with the opinion 
adopted as early as any political opinions I ever 
had, and cherished as'long, that the right of suf- 
frage is not a mere conventional right, but an 
inherent natural right, of which no government 
can rightly deprive any adult man who is subject 
to its authority, and obligated to its support. 

I hold, moreover, sir, that inasmuch as every 
man is, by force of circumstances beyond his 
own control, a subject of government some- 
where, he is, by the very constitution of human 
society, entitled to share equally in the confer- 
ring of political power on those who wield it, if 
he is not disqualified by crime ; that in a despotic 
government he ought to be allowed arms, in a 
tree government the ballot or the open vote, as 
a means of self protection against unendurable 
oppression. I am not likely, therefore, to restore 
to this bill an amendment which would deprive 
it of an important feature imposed upon it by the 
House of Kepresentatives, and that one, perhaps, 
the only feature that harmonizes with my own 
convictions of justice. It is true that the House 
of Representatives stipulates such sutVrage for 
white men as a condition for opening it to the 
possible proscription and slavery of the African. 
1 shall separate them. I shall vote for the foi-mer 
and against the latter, glad to get universal suf- 
frage of white men, if only that can be gained 
now, and working right on, full of hope and con- 
fidence, for the prevention or the abrogation of 
Slavery in the Territories hei'eafter. 

Sir, "l am surprised at the pertinacity with 
which the honorable Senator from Delaware, 
mine ancient and honorable friend, [Mr. Clay- 
ton,] perseveres in opposing the granting of the 
right of suffrage to the unnaturalized foreigner 
in the Territories. Congress cannot deny uim 
that right. Here is the third article of that con- 
vention by which Louisiana, including Kansas 
and Nebraska, was ceded to the United States : 

"The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall 
be incorporated in the Union of the United 
States, and admitted as soon as possible, accord- 
ing to the principles of the Federal Constitution, 
to the enjojTnent of the rights, privileges, and 
immunities of citizens of the United States ; and 
in the mean time they shall be maintained and 
protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, 
property, and the religion they profess." 

The inhabitants of Kansas and Nebraska are 
citizens akeady, and by force of this treaty must 
continue to be, and as such to enjoy the right of 
suffrage, whatever laws you may make to the 
contrary. My opinions are well known, to wit: 
That Slavery is not only an evil, but a local one, 
injurious and ultimately pernicious to society, 
wherever it exists, and in conflict with the con- 
stitutional principles of society in this country. 
1 am not willing to extend nor to permit the ex- 
tension of that local evil into regions now free 
within our empire. I know that there are some 
who differ from me, and who regard the Constitu- 
tion of the United States as an instrument which 
sanctions Slavery as well as Freedom. But if I 
could admit a proposition so incongruous with 
the letter and spirit of the Federal Constitution, 
and the luiown sentiments of its illustrious found- 



THE KANSAS-NEBR^Vaiwi STRUGGLE. 



79 



ore, nnd so should coiu-ludo that Slavery wan 
natioual, I iiuihI wtill oliciinli the opinion Ihiit it 
in ail fvil ; and lucauso it in a national oni', I am 
the more tirnily held anil bonnd to i)ri'vtnt an in- 
crease of it, tendinj,', a« I think it manifestly does, 
to the woakeninff nnd ultimato overthrow of the 
CoHBtitution itHclf, and therefore to the injury of 
nil mankind. 1 know tlieie have hueii States 
vhieli liave endured Ion;,', and achieved much, 
whieh tolerated .Slavery ; but that wan not the 
Slavery of easto, like African Slavery. Such 
Slavery tends to demoralize eiiually the nuhjecl- 
cd race and the superior one. It has Ijei^n the 
absence of such Slavery iVoni Kuropo that has 
given her nations their superiority over other 
countries in liiat heniisi)hero. Shiverv, where- 
over it exists, be;,'ets fear, and fear is tlie parent 
of weakness. W'hat is tlie secret of that eternal, 
fcleepless au.xicty in the kjjislalive hulls, and even 
at the Ih-esides of the Slave States, always asking; 
new stipulations, new compromises and abroj^'a- 
lion of compromises, new as.sumptions of power 
and abnegations of power, but fear ? It is the 
apprehension, that, even if safe now, they will 
not always or long be secure against sonic inva- 
sion or some aggression from the Free States. 
Wiiat is llie secret of the humiliating part wiiicli 
proud old Spain is acting at this day, trembling 
Letween alarms of American intrusion into Cuba 
on one side, and British dictation on the other, 
but the fact that she Las cherished Slavery so 
long and still cherishes it, in the last of her Ameri- 
can Colonial possessions .' Thus far Kansas and 
Nebraska are safe, under the laws of 1820, 
against the introduction of thi.s element of na- 
tioual debility and decline. The bill before us, 
as we are assured, contains a great principle, a 
glorious principle ; and yet that principle, when 
luUy ascertained, proves to be nothing less than 
the subversion of that security, not only within 
the Territories of Kansas aiid Nebraska, but 
■within all the other present and future Territo- 
ries of the United States. Thus it is quite clear 
that it is not a principle alone that is involved, 
but that those who crowd this measure with so 
much zeal and earnestness must expect that 
either Freedom or Slavery shall gain something 
by it iu those regions. The case, then, stands 
thus iu Kansas and Nebraska : Freedom may 
lose, but certainly can gain nothing ; while Sla- 
very may gain, but as certainly can lose no- 
thing. 

So far as I am concerned, the time for looking 
on the dark side has passed. I feel quite sure 
that Slavery at most can get nothing more than 
Kansas ; while Nebraska — the wider northern 
region — will, under existing circumstances, es- 
cape, for the reason that its soil and cUmate are 
uncongenial with the staples of slave culture- 
rice, sugar, cotton, and tobacco. Moreover, 
since the public attention has been so well and so 
eflectuaily directed toward the subject, I cher- 
ish a hope that Slavery may be prevented even 
from gaining a foothold in Kausras. Congress 
only gives consent, but it does not and cannot 
introduce Slavery there. Slavery will be em- 
barrassed by its own overgrasping spirit. No 
one, 1 am sure, anticipates the possible re-estab- 
lishment of the African Slave-trade. The tide of 
emigi-ation tu Kansas is therefore to be supplied 
there solely by the domestic fountain of slave pro- 
duction. But Slavery has also other regions be- 
sides Kansas to be filled from that fountain. There 
are all of New-Mexico and all of Utah already 
within the United States ; and then there is Cuba 
that consumes slave labor and life as fast as any 
one of the slaveholding States can supply it ; and 
besides these regions, there remains all of Mexi- 
co down to the Isthmus. The stream of slave 
labor flowing from so small a tountain, and bro- 
ken into several divergent channels, will not 



cover 80 great a field ; nnd it is reasonably to bo 
hoped that Iho imrt of it nearosl to the North 
I'ole will he the last to bo inundated. But Af- 
riean slave emigration is to ctimpeto with free 
emigration of while nu-n, nnd the Hource of this 
latter tide is as ample as the civilization of Iho 
two <-ntire <-ontinenlH. The lionorable Senator 
from Delaware meiifioned, as if it were a start- 
ling fact, tlial twenty tliouKMnil KurojK-aii immi- 
grants anivid in New-York in one monili. Sir, 
he has stated the fact with too much moderation. 
On my return to the eajiital a day or two ago, 
1 met twelve thousand of these emigrants who 
had arrived in New - York on one innrnin)?, 
aird who had thronged lhec-hureln-s on llie follow- 
ing Sabbath, to return thanks for delivt-raiico 
from the perils of the sea, and for their arrival in 
the land, not of Slavery but of Liberty. I also 
thank (Jod for their escaj)e, and fur their coming. 
They are now on their way westward, and the 
news of the jiassage of this bill, preceding thern, 
will si)eed many of them towards Kansas and 
Nebraska. Such arrivals are not exlraordinary 
— tliey occur almost every week ; and the immi- 
gration from Germany, from (Ireaf Britain, and 
from Norway, and from Sweden, during the Eu- 
ropean war, will rise to six or seven hundred 
thousand souls in a year. And with this tide is to 
be mingled one rapidly swelling from Asia nnd 
from the islands of the South Seas. All the im- 
migrants under this bill, as the House of Kcpre- 
sentatives overruling you have ordered, will be 
good, loyal. Liberty-loving, Slavery-fearing citi- 
zens. Come on, then, gentlemen" of the Slave 
States. Since there is no escaping your chal- 
lenge, I accept it in behalf of the cause of Free- 
dom. We will engage in competition for the 
virgin soil of Kansas, and God give the victory 
to the side which is stronger in numbers as it is 
iu right. 

There are, however, earnest advocates of this 
bill, who do not expect, and who, 1 suppose, do 
not desire, that Shiverv shall gain possession of 
Nebraska. \Vhat do tliey expect to gain ? The 
honorable Senator from Indiana [iMr. Pettit] 
says that by thus obliterating the Missouri Com- 
promise restriction, they will gain titaliula rasa, 
on which the inhabitants of Kansas and Nebras- 
ka may write whatever they will. This is the 
great principle of the bill, as he understands it. 
Well, what gain is therein that? You obliter- 
ate a Constitution of Freedom. If they write a 
new Coiistitulion of Freedom, can the new be 
better than the old ? If they write a Constitu- 
tion of Slavery, will it not be a worse one ? I 
ask the honorable Senator that. But the honor- 
able Senator says that the people of Nebraska 
will have the prnilege of establishing institutions 
for themselves. They have now the privilege of 
establishing free institutions. Is it a privilege, 
then, to esiablish Slavery? If so, what a mock- 
ery are all our Constitutions, which prevent tho 
inhabitants from capriciously subverting free 
institutions and establishing institutions of Sla- 
very ! Sir, it is a sophism, a subtlety, to talk of 
conferring upon a country, already secure in the 
blessings of Freedom, the power of self-destruc- 
tion. 

What mankind everywhere want, is not the 
removal of the Constitutions of Freedom which 
they have, that they may make at their pleasure 
Constitutions of Slavery or of Freedom, but tho 
privilege of retaining Constitutions of Freedom 
when tliey already have them, and the removal 
of Constitutions of Slavery when they have them, 
that they may establish Constitutituis of Freedom 
in their place. We hold on tenaciously to all 
existing Constitutions of Freedom. \Vbo de- 
nounces any man for diligently adhering to such 
Constitutions? \\'ho would dare to denounce 
any one for disloyalty to our existing Coastita- 



80 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



tions, if tlioy wore Constitutions of Despotism 
and Slnvci-v ? But it is supposed by some thiit 
this priiui|ile is less important in regard to Kan- 
sas and Nebraska tliau as a general one — a general 
principle applicable to all other present and 
tuture Territories of the United States. Do ho- 
norable Senators then indeed sup))Ose they arc 
establishing a principle at all? If so, I think they 
cgregiously err, whether the principle is either 
good or bad, right or wrong. They are not esta- 
blishing it, and cannot establish it in this way. 
You subvert one law capriciously, by making 
another law in its place. That is all. Will your 
law have any more weight, authority, solemnity, 
or binding force on future Congresses, than the 
first had ? You abrogate the law of your prede- 
cessors — others will have equal power and equal 
liberty to abrogate yours. You allow no barriers 
around the old law, to protect it from abrogation. 
You erect none around your new law, to stay the 
hand of future innovators. 

On what ground do you expect the new law to 
stand ? If you are candid, you will confess that 
you rest your assumption on the ground that the 
Free States will never agitate repeal, but always 
acquiesce. It may be that you are right. I am 
not going to predict the course of the Free States. 
I claim no authority to speak for them, and still 
less to say what they will do. But I may venture 
to say, that if they shall not repeal this law, it 
will not be because they are not strong enough to 
do it. They have power in the House of Repre- 
sentatives greater than that of the Slave States, 
and, when they choose to exercise it, a power 
greater even here in the Senate. The Free States 
are not dull scholars, even in practical political 
sti-ategy. When you shall have taught them that 
a compromise law establishing Freedom can be 
abrogated, and the Union nevertheless stand, you 
will nave let them into another secret, namely : 
that a law permitting or establishing Slavery can 
be repealed, and the Union nevertheless remain 
finn. If you inquire why they do not stand by 
their rights and their interests more firmly, I will 
tell you to the best of my ability. It is because 
they are conscious of their strength, and, there- 
fore, unsuspecting, and slow to apprehend danger. 
The reason why you prevail in so many contests, 
is because you are in perpetual fear. 

There cannot be a convocation of Abolitionists, 
however impracticable, in Faneuil Hall or the 
Tabernacle, though it consists of men and women 
who have sei)arated themselves from all effective 
political parlies, and who have renounced all 
political agencies, even though they resolve that 
they will vote for nobody, not even for them- 
selves, to carry out their purposes, and though 
they practice on that resolution, but you take 
alarm, and your agitation renders necessary such 
compromises as those of 1820 and of 1850. We 
are young in the arts of politics ; you are old. 
We are strong ; you are weak. We are, there- 
fore, over-confident, careless, and indifferent ; 
you are vigilant and active. Those are traits 
that redound to your praise. They are mentioned 
not in your disparagement. 1 say only, that 
there may be an extent of intervention, of aggres- 
sion on your side, which may induce the North, 
at some time, cither in this or in some future 
generation, to adopt your tactics and follow your 
example. Remember now, that by unanimous 
consent, this new law will be a repealable statute, 
exposed to all the chances of the Missouri Com- 
promise. It stands an infinitely worse chance of 
endurance than that compromise did. 

The Missouri Compromise was a transaction 
which wise, learned, patriotic statesmen agreed 
to surround and fortify with the principles of a 
compact for mutual considerations, passed and 
executed, and therefore, although not irrepeal. 
able ia fact, yet irrepealablo ijj honor and con. 



science, and down at least until this very session 
of the Congress of the United States, it has had 
the force and authority not merely of an act of 
Congress, but of a covenant between the Free 
States and the Slave States, scarcely less sacred 
than the Constitution itself Now then, who are 
your contracting parties in the law establishing 
Governments in Kansas and Nebraska, and ab- 
rogating the Missouri Compromise? What are 
the equivalents in this law ? What has the North 
given, and what has the South got back, that 
makes this a contract ? Who pretends that it is 
anything more than an ordinary act of ordinary 
legislation? If, then, a law which has all the 
forms and solemnities recognized by common 
consent as a compact, and is covered with tra- 
ditions, cannot stand amid this shuffling of the 
balance between the Free States and the Slave 
States, tell me what chances this new law that 
you are passing will have ? 

You are, moreover, setting a precedent which 
abrogates all compromises. Four years ago, you 
obtained the consent of a portion of the Free 
States — enough to render the effort at immediate 
repeal or resistance alike impossible — to what we 
regard as an unconstitutional act for the surren- 
der of fugitive slaves. That was declared, by the 
common consent of the persons acting in the 
name of the two parties, the Slave States and the 
Free States in Congress, an irrepealable law — not 
even to be questioned, although it violated the 
Constitution. In establishing this new principle, 
you expose that law also to the chances of repeal. 
You not only so expose the fugitive slave law, 
but there is no solemnity about the articles for 
the annexation of Texas to the United States, 
which does not hang about the Missouri Com- 
promise ; and when you have shown that the 
Missouri Compromise can be repealed, then the 
articles for the annexation of Texas are subject 
to the will and pleasure and the caprice of a tem- 
poraiy majority in Congress. Do you, then, ex- 
pect that the Free States are to observe compacts, 
and you to bo at liberty to break them ; that 
they are to submit to laws and leave them on the 
statute-book, however unconstitutional and how- 
ever grievous, and that you are to rest under no 
such obligation ? I think it is not a reasonable 
expectation. Say, then, who from the North 
will be bound to admit Kansas, when Kansas 
shall come in here, if she shall come as a Slave 
State 1 

The honorable Senator from Georgia, [Mr. 
Toombs,] and I know he is as sincere as he is 
ardent, says if he shall be here when Kansas 
comes as a Free State, he will vote for her ad- 
mission. I doubt not that he would ; but he will 
not be here, for the veiy reason, if there be no 
other, that ho would vote that way. When 
Oregon or Minnesota shall come here for admis- 
sion — whhin one year, or two years, or three 
years from this time — we shall then see what 
your new principle is worth in its obligation upon 
the slaveholding States. No; you establish no 
principle, you only abrogate a principle which 
was established for your own security as well as 
ours; and while you think you are abnegating 
and resigning all power and all authority on this 
subject into the hands of the people of the Terri- 
tories, you are only getting over a difficulty in 
settling this question in the organization of two 
new Territories, by postponing it till they come 
here to be admitted as States, slave or free. 

Sir, in saying that your new principle will not 
be established by this bill, I reason from obvious, 
clear, well settled principles of human nature. 
Slavery and Freedom are antagonistical elements 
in this country. The founders of the Constitution 
framed it with a knowledge of that anta^'onism, 
and suffered it to continue, that it might work 
out its own ends. There is a commercial anta- 



THE KANSAS NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



81 



gouism, nil inT><'nii('ilal)lo one, bctwoon tlio eys- 
toiiis i)f free liibm- iiml hIiivo labor. Thev Imve 
been nt war with eacli other ever Binci; the (io 
vermiK'iit w.is estahlished, and that war is to 
eontiuuo forever. Tlie eoiitesf, wlieii it ripens 
between tlie.se two antaf,'0ni8tic elenionts, is to be 
eettiod soniewliero; it is to be settled in tho seat 
of central power, in the Federal Li'i,'islature. 
The Constitnlion makes it Uio duty of the central 
Government to dotorminc queslions, as often as 
they shall arise, in favor of ono^ or the other 
party, and refers tho decision of them to the 
majoritv of tho votes in tho two Houses of Con- 
press, "it will come back here, then, in Bi)ito of 
all the elVorts to escape from it. 

This anta'^onism must end cither in a soiiara- 
tion of the anlniionistic parties— the Slaveholdini,' 
States ami the Free States — or, secondly, in tiie 
coniploto establishment of the inllueni'e of the 
Slave power over tho Free — or else, on the other 
hand, in the establishnient of the superior inlin- 
onco of Freedom over tho interests of Slavery. 
Il will not be terminated by n voluntary secession 
of either party. Commercial interests bind the 
Slave States and the Free States together in liidis 
of pold that are riveted with iron, and they can- 
not be broken by pa.ssion or by ambition. Either 
party will submit to the aseenilancy of the other, 
rather than yield the commercial advantaj^es of 
this Tnion. Piditical tics bind tho Union to- 
gether — a common necessity, and not merely a 
common necessity, but the commi>u interests of 
empire — of such empire as the world has never 
before seen. Tlie control of the national power 
is the control of the threat Western Continent; 
and tho control of this continent is to be, in a 
very few years, the controUinsi intiuenco in the 
■world. Who is there, North, that hates Slavery 
so much, or who, South, that hates emaneii)ation 
so intensely, that he can attempt, with any hope 
of success, to break a Union thus forf^ed and 
welded toy;eiher ? I have always heard, with 
e([ual pity and disgust, threats of disunion in the 
Free States, and similar threats in the Sluve- 
liolding States. I know that men may rave in 
the heat of passion, and under great political cx- 
citement ; but I know that when it comes to a 
question whether this Union shall stand, either 
with Freedom or with Slavery, the masses will 
uphold it, and it will stand until some inherent 
vice in its Constitution, not yet disclosed, shall 
cause its dissolution. Now, entertaining these 
opinions, there are for me only two alternatives, 
VIZ. : either to let Slavery gain unlimited sway, 
or 80 to exert what little power and intlueuce I 
may have, as to secure, if I can, the ultimate pre- 
dominance of Freedom. 

In doing this, I do no more than tlioso who 
believe the Slave Power is rightest, wisest, and 
])est, are doing, and will continue to do, with mv 
free consent, to establish its complete supremacy. 
If they shall succeed, I still shall be, as I have 
been, a loyal citizen If we succeed, I know they 
■will be loyal also, because it will be safest, wisest, 
and best for them to bo so. The question is one, 
not of a day, or of a year, but of many years, and, 
for aught I know, many generations. Like all 
other great political questions, it will be attended 
sometimes by excitement, sometimes by passion, 
and sometimes, perhaps, even by faction ; but it 
is sure to be settled in a constitutional way, with- 
out any violent shock to society, or to any of its 
great interests. It is, moreover, sure to be settled 
riglitly; because it will be settled under tho 
benign influences of liepublieaiiism and Chris- 
tianity, ai'cording to the princii)lcs of truth and 
justice, as ascertained by human reason. In pur- 
suing such a course, it seems to me obviously as 
wise as it is necessary to save nil existing laws 
and Constitutions which are conservative of 
Freedom, and to permit, as fm- as possible, the 
6 



CKtablishmcnt of no now ones in favor of Slavery ; 
and thus to turn away the thoughts of the .StutOH 
which tolerate Slavery, tVom political etVorts to 
perpetuate what in its naturu cannot be jierpot- 
ual, to the moro wiso and benign policy <il emuu- 
cii)atioii. 

This, in my hnmblo judgment, is the simple, 
easy path of duty tor the American Statesman. 
I will not contemplate that other alternative — the 
greater aseenilancy of tlie .Slave Power. I boliove 
that if it shall ever come, tho voice of Freedom 
will cease to be heard in these Halls, whatever 
niay bo tho evils and dangers which Slavery shall 
produce. I say this without disrespect for i{epro- 
sentatives of Slave States, and 1 say it becaUHO 
the rights of petition and of debate on that are 
etleetiially suppressed — necessarily suiipresscd — 
in all the Slave States, and because they me not 
always lii'ld in reverence, even now, in the two 
Houses of C<jngress. When freedom of speech 
on a subject of such vital interest shall have 
ceased to exist in Congress, then I shall expect 
to see Slavery not only luxuriating in all new 
Territories, but stealthiiy creeping even into the 
Free States themselves. Relieving this, and be- 
lieving, also, that complete responsibility of the 
(ioverimient to the people is essential to public 
and private safety, and that decline and ruin are 
sure to follow, always, in the train of Slavery, I 
am sure that this will be no longer a laml of 
Freedom and constituticnial liberty when Slavery 
shall have tlius become paramount. Aufcrre 
tnicidare fahix iwininihus imprriuin afquc, ubi 
solitudiium faciuitt, paccm appcllnnf. 

Sir, I have always said that I should not de- 
s])ond, even if this fearful mea-surc should be 
efi'ectod : nor do I now despond. Although, rea- 
soning from my present convictions, 1 should 
not have voted for the compromise of 18'J0, I 
have labored, in the very spirit of those who es- 
tablished it, to save the landmark of Freedom 
which it a.ssigned. I have not spoken irrever- 
ently even of the compromise of 1850, which, as 
all men know, I opposed earnestly and with dili- 
gence. Nevertheless, I have always preferred 
the compromises of the Constitution, and have 
wanted no others. I feared all others. This waa 
a leading ptinciple of the great statesman of the 
South, [Mr. Calhoun]. Said he: 

" I sec my ■way in tho Constitution ; I cannot 
in a compromise. A compromise is but an act 
of Congress. It may be overruled at any time. 
It gives us no security. But the Constitution is 
stable. It is a rock on which wo can stand, and 
on which we can meet our friends from the non- 
slaveholding States. It is a firm and stable 
ground, on which we can better stand in opposi- 
tion to fanaticism than on the shifiing sanils of 
compromise. Let us be done with coniproniises. 
Let us go back and stand upon the Couc-titu- 
lion." 

I stood upon this ground in 1850, defending 
Freedom upon it as Mr. Calhoun did in defend- 
ing Slavery. I was overruled then, ami I have 
waited since without proiwsing to abrogate any 
compromises. 

It has been no proposition of mine to abro-jate 
them now; but tlic proposition has come from 
another quarter — from an adverse tnie. It is 
about to prevail. The shifting sands of compro- 
mise are pa.ssing from under my feet, and tney 
are now, without agency of my own, taking hold 
again on the rock of the Constitution. It shall be 
no fault of mine if they do m)t remain firm. This 
seems to me auspicious of better days and wi-ser 
legislation. Through all the darkness and gloom 
of the present hour, bright stars are breaking, 
that insi)ire me with hope, and excite me to per- 
severance. Thev show that the day of compro- 
mises has past forever, and that henceforward 
all great questions between Freedom and Slaverj 



82 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



legitimately coming here — and none other can 
come— i^liail be decided, as they ought to be, upon 
their merits, by a fair exercise of legislative 
power, and not by bargains of equivocal pru- 
dence, if not of doubtful morality. 

Tlie House of Kepresentntives has, and it al- 
ways will have, an increasing majority of mem- 
bers from the Free States. On this occasion, that 
House has not been altogether faithless to the in- 
terests of the Free States; foralthough it has taken 
away the charter of Freedom from Kansas and 
Nebraska, it has, at the same time, told this proud 
body, in language which compels acquiescence, 
that in submitting the question of its restoration, 
it would submit it not merely to interested citi- 
zens, but to the alien inhabitants of the Terri- 
tories also. So the great interests of humanity 
are, after all, thanks to the House of Represent- 
atives, and thanks to God, submitted to the 
voice of human nature. 

Sir, I see one more sign of hope. The great 
support of Slavery in the South has been its alli- 
ance with the Democratic party of the North. 
By means of that alliance, it obtained paramount 
inilueuce in this Government about the year 1800, 
which from that time to this, with but few and 
slight interruptions, it has maintained. While 
Democracy in the North has thus been support- 
ing Slavery in the South, the people of the North 
have been learning more profoundly the princi- 
ples of republicanism and of free government. 
It is an extraordinary circumstance, which you, 
6U-, the present occupant of the chair, [Mr. Stu- 
art], I am sure will not gainsay, that at this mo- 
ment, when there seems to be a more complete 
divergence of the Federal Government, in favor 
of Slavery, than ever before, the sentiment of 
Universal Liberty is stronger in all Free States 
than it ever was befoi'e. With that principle, 
the present Democratic party must now come 
into a closer contest. Their prestige of Democra- 
cy is fast waning, by reason of the hard service 
which their alliance with their slaveholding 
brethren has imposed upon them. That party 
perseveres, as indeed it must, by reason of its very 
constitution, in that service, and thus comes into 
closer conflict with elements of true Democracy, 
and for that reason is destined to lose, and is fast 
losing, the power which it has held so firmly and 
long. That power will not be restored until the 
principle established here now shall be reversed, 
and a Constitution shall be given, not only to 
Kansas and Nebraska, but also to every other 
national Territory, which will be not a tabula 
rasa, but a Constitution securing equal, univer- 
sal, and perpetual Freedom. 



Mr. Douglas closed the debate, reiterating 
and enforcing the views set forth in his Re- 
port already given ; and at last the vote 
was taken, and the bill passed : Yeas 37 ; 
Nays 14 ; as follows : 

YEAS— For the Kansas-Nebraska bill : 



Messrs. Adams, 

Atchison, 

Badger, 

Bayard, 

Benjamin, 

Brodhead, 

Brown, 

Butler, 

Cass, 

Clay, 

Dawson, 

Dixon, 



Hunter, 

Johnson, 

Jones of Iowa, 

Jones of Tenn. 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Norris, 

Pettit, 

Pratt, 

Rusk, 

Sebastian, 

Shields, 



Dodge of Iowa, Slidell, 
Douglas, Stuart, 

Evans, Thompson of Ky. 



Fitzpatrick, Thomson of N. J. 

Geyer, Toucey, 

Gwin, Weller, 

Williams — 37. 

NAYS— Against the said bill ; 

Messrs. Bell, Houston, 

Chase, James. 
Dodge of Wise. Seward, 

Fessenden, Smhh, 

Fish, Sumner, 

Foot, Wade, 

Hamlin. Walker — 14. 

So the bill was passed, and its title de- 
clared to be " An Act to organize the Ter- 
ritories of Nebraska and Kansas," and the 
Senate adjourned over to the Tuesday fol- 
following. 



In the House, a bill to organize the Ter- 
ritory of Nebraska had been noticed on the 
first day of the session, by Mr. John G. 
Miller of Mo., who introduced it December 
22nd. 

Jan. 2ith. — Mr. Giddings gave notice of 
a bill to organize said Territory. 

Jan. 30th.— Ur. Pringle of N. Y. en- 
deavored to have the bill passed at the last 
session (leaving the Missouri Restriction 
intact), reported by the Committee on Ter- 
ritories ; but debate arose, and his resolution 
lay over. 

Jan. 31st. — Mr. Richardson of 111., chair- 
man of the Committee on Territories, re- 
ported a bill " To organize the Territories 
of Nebraska and Kansas," which was read 
twice and committed. 

Mr. Richardson's bill was substantially 
Mr. Douglas's last bill, and was accompa- 
nied by no report. Mr. English of Ind. 
submitted the views of a minority of said 
Committee on lY'rritories, proposing, with- 
out argument, the two following amend- 
ments : 

1. Amend the section defining the bound- 
ary of Kansas, so as to make " the summit 
of the Rocky Mountains" the western bound- 
ary of said Territory. 

2. Strike out of the 14th and 34th sec- 
tions of said bill all after the words •' Uni- 
ted States," and insert in each instance (the 
one relating to Kansas, and the other to Ne- 
braska) as follows : 

Provided, That nothing in this act shall be so 
construed as to prevent tlie peojile of said Terri- 
tory, through the properly-constituted legislative 
authority, from passing such laws, in relation to 
the institution of Slavery, as they may deem 
best adapted to their locality, and most condu- 
cive to their happiness and welfare ; and so much 
of any existing act of Congress as may conflict 
with the above right of the people to regulate 
their domestic institutions in their own way, be, 
and the same is hereby, repealed." 

This appears to have been an attempt to 
give practical effect to the doctrine of 
Sfiuatter Sovereignty ; but it was not suc- 
cessful. 



TUE KANSAS-NERllASKA STRUGGLE. 



83 



May Stit. — On motion of Mr. Richard- 
son, the IIouso — Yeas 109 ; Nays 88 — 
resolved itself into a Committee of the 
Whole, and took up the bill (House No. 
23G) to organize tlie Territories of Xcbrius- 
liu and Kansas, and discussed it — Mr. Olds 
of Ohio in the ehair. 

On coming out of Committee, Mr Georjre 
W. Jones of Tcnn. moved that the rules be 
susjUMuled so as to enable him to move the 
])riiitin!i: of Senate bill (No. 2'2, ))asscd the 
Senate iis aforesaid) and tlie amendment 
now pending to the House bill. No (juo- 
rnm voted — adjourned. 

Mai/ 9th. — This motion prevailed. Af- 
ter debate in Committe<? on the Kansas-Ne- 
bniska bill, the Cunnnittee found it.self 
without a (juorum, and thereupon rose and 
reported the fact to the House — only 100 
Jklembers were found to be present. After 
several fruitless attemjits to adjourn, a call 
was ordered and a quorum obtained, at 'J 
P. M. At 10, an adjournment prevailed. 

May lOtli. — Debate iu Committee con- 
tinned. 

3Iuy lltli. — Mr. Richardson moved that 
all debate iu Conmiittee close to-morrow at 
Qoon. 

Mr. English moved a call of the House : 
Refused ; Yeas 88 ; Naj's 97. 

Mr. Mace moved that Mr. Richardson's 
motion be laid on the table : Defeated ; 
Yeas 9:i ; Nays 100. 

Mr. Edgerton of Ohio moved a call of 
the House : Refused ; Yeas 45 ; Nays 80. 

[The day was spent in what has come 
to i)e called •' Filil)ustering" — that is, the 
minority moving adjournments, calls of the 
House, asking to be excused from voting, 
taking appeals, etc., etc. In the midst of 
this, Mr. Richardson withdi-ew his original 
motion, and moved instead that the debate 
iu Connnittee be closed in five minutes after 
the House shall have resumed it. 

The hour of noon of the I'ith having ar- 
Bived, Messrs. Dean and Banks raised points 
of order as to the termination of the legisla- 
tive day. The Speaker decided that the 
legislative day could only be terminated by 
the adjournment of the House, except by 
constitutional conclusion of the session. ^Ir. 
Banks appealed, but at length withdrew his 
appeal. 

Finally, at 11 J o'clock, P. M., of Friday, 
12th, after a continuous sitting of thirty- 
six hours, the House, on motion of Mr. Rich- 
ardson, adjourned. 

May 13th. — The House sat but two 
hours, and efifected nothing. 

3Iay I'Hh. — Mr. Richardson withdrew his 
demand for the Previous Question on clos- 
ing the debate, and moved instead that the 
debate close at noon on Friday the 19th in- 
stant, 'i'liis he finally modified by substi- 
tuting Saturday the 20th ; and in ttiis shape 
his motion prevailed by a two-thirds majori- 



ty—Yeas 137 ; Nays CG— the following op- 
ponents of the Ijill voting for the motion, 
namely : 

R[aink. — ThuiiinH ,J. 1). Kuller, Siiniui'l May- 
nil— 1>. 

NKwIlA.Mr.sniuF..— fJco. W. Kittreilge, Geo. 
\V. Morrisdii — 2. 

Massachusktts.— Xatlmnicl 1*. IJankH, jr.— 1. 

Co.NNKcTicuT.— ()ri;;ou S. Soyniour— 1. 

Xew-Yokk.— Gilbert Deuii, Churlt-B Hughes 

I'KXNSYLVANiA.— Michiiol C. Trout— 1. 

Ohio. — Alfred 1*. Kil;;i'rt(»n, Iliirvoy H. .John- 
son, Andrew ICiiisoii, Williinii I). Liiidhlcy, Thom- 
ns Kicliey — .'>. 

Indiana. — Andrcu'.I. llinlnii, Daniel Maco— 2. 

Illinois.— Jolin Wont worth— 1. 

Michigan. — David A. Noble, llentor L. Ste- 
veiiH — 2. 

Wisconsin. — .Toliii 15. Macy — 1. 

ViiUiiNiA. — John S. Millsou — 1. 

Total— 21. 

Mr. Richardson, having thus got in his 
resolution to close the debate, put on the 
previous question again, and the House — 
Yeas, 113 ; Nays, 59 — agreed to close the 
debate on the 20th. 

Debate having been closed, the opponents 
of the measure expected to defeat or crip- 
ple it by moving and taking a vote in Com- 
mittee on various propositions of amend- 
ment, kindred to those moved and rejected 
in the Senate ; some of which it was be- 
lieved a majority of the House would not 
choose (or dare) to vote down ; and. though 
the names of those voting on one side or 
the other in Committee of the Whole are 
not recorded, yet any proposition moved and 
rejected there, may be renewed in the House 
after taking the bill out of committee, and is 
no longer cut off by the Previous Question ; 
as it formerly was. But, when the hour for 
closing debate in Committee had arrived, 
Mr. Alex. H. Stephens moved that the en- 
acting clause of the hill he stricken out ; 
which was carried by a rally of the friends 
of the bill, and of course cut off all amend- 
ments. The bill was thus reported to the 
House with its hea<l off; when, after a long- 
struggle, the House refused to agree to the 
report of the Committee of the Whole — 
Yeas (for agreeing) 97 ; Nays 117 — bring- 
ing the House to a direct vote on the en- 
grossment of the bill. 

Mr. Richardson now movctl an amend- 
ment, which was a substitute for the whole 
bill, being substantially the Senate's bill, 
with the clause admitting aliens, who have 
declared their intention to become citizens, 
to the right of suffrage. He thereupon 
called the Previous Question, which the 
House sustained — Yeas IK!; Nays 90 — 
when the House adopted his amendment — 
Yeas 115 ; Nays 95 — and proceeded to en- 
gross the bill— Yeas 112 ; Nays 99 — when 
he put on the Previous Question again, and 
pa.-sed the bill finally — Yeas 113; Nays 
100 — as follows ; 



84: 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



YEAS— 113. 

FROM THE FKEE STATES. 

Maine — Moses McDonald — 1. 

N K w- H A M I' SH I R E — H.iiTy li ibbnrd — 1 . 

CoNNKCTicUT — Colin M. IngersoU — 1. 

Vermont — None. Massachusetts — None. 

Rhode Island — None. 

Kew-York— Thomas W. Cumming, Francis 
B. Cutting, Peter Rowc, John J. Taylor, Wil- 
liam M. Tweed, Hiram Walbridgc, William A. 
Walker, Mike Walsh, Thco. R. Westbrook— 9. 

Pennsylvania — Samuel A. Bridges, John L. 
Dawson, Thomas B. Florence, J. Glancy Jones, 
William H. Kurtz, John McNair, Asa Packer, 
John Robbins, Jr., Christian M. Straub, Wilham 
H. Witte, Hcndrick B. Wright— 11. 

New-Jeusey— Samuel Lilly, George Vail— 2. 

Ohio- David T. Disnev, Frederick W. Green, 
Ed.son B. Olds, Wilson Shannon- 4. 

Indiana— John G. Davis, Cyrus L. Dunham, 
Nonnan Eddy, William H. English, Thomas A. 
Hendi-icks, James H. Lane, Smith Miller— 7. 

Illinois— James C. Allen, Willis Allen, Wm. 
A. Richardson — 3. 

Michigan— Samuel Clark, David Stuart— 2. 

Iowa — Bernhart Henn — 1. 

Wisconsin — None. 

California— Milton S. Latham, J. A. McDou- 
gaU— 2. Total 44. 

FROM THE SLAVE STATES. 

Delaware— George R. Riddle— 1. 

Maryland— William T. Hamilton, Henry 
May, Jacob Shower, Joshua Vansant— 4. 

Virginia— Thomas H. Bayly, Thomas S. Bo- 
cock, John S. Caskic, Henry A. Edmundson, 
Charles J. Faulkner, William O. Goode, Zede- 
kiah Kidwell, John Letcher, Paulus Powell, 
William Smith, John P. Snodgrass— IL 

North Carolina- William S. Ashe, Burton 
Craige, Thomas L. Clingmau, John Kerr, Thos. 
Ruftin, Henry M. Shaw— 6. 

South Carolina— William W. Boyce, Pres- 
ton S. Brooks, James L. Orr— 3. 

Georgia— David J. Bailey, Elijah W. Chas- 
tain, Alfred H. Colquitt, Junius HiUyer, David 
A Reese, Ale.x. H. Stephens— 6. 

Alabama— Ja?»es Abercromhie, Wilhamson 
R W. Cobb, James F. Dowdell, Sampson W. 
Harris, George S. Houston, Philip PhUlips, \\ il- 
liam R. Smith— 7. - — 

Mississippi— William S. Ban-y, Wilham 
Barksdale, Otho R. Singleton, Daniel B. Wright 
— 4 

Louisiana— William Dunbar, Roland Jones, 
John Perkins, Jr. — 3 . , , o 

Kentucky— John C. Breckeundge, James S. 
Chrisman, Leander M. Cox, Clement S. Hill, 
John M. Elliot, £««;. E.Grey, WiUiam Pres- 
ton, Richard H. Stanton— 8. 

Tennessee— William M. Churchwcll, George 
W. Jones, Charles Ready, Samuel A. Smith, 
Frederick P. Stanton, Felix K. Zollicoffer—b. 

Missouri— Alfred W. Lamb, James J. Ltnd- 
ley, John G. Miller, Mordecai Oliver, John S. 

Arkansas— Alfred B. Greenwood, Edwin A. 
Warren — 2. 

Florida— Augustus E. Maxwell— 1. 
Texas— Peter H. BeU, Geo. W. Smyth— 2 

Total— 69. 

Total, Free and Slave States— 113. 
NAYS— 100. 

FREE STATES. 
Mmsf.— Samuel P. Benson, E. Wilder Far- 
lev, Tiiomas J. D. Fuller, Samuel Mayall, Israel 
Washburn, Jr. — 5. 



I New-Hampshire — George W. Kittredge, 
George W. Morrison — 2. 

Massachusetts — Nathaniel P. Banks, Jr., 
Samnel L. Crocker, Alex. De Witt , Edxeard, 
Dickinson, J. Wiley Edmands, Thomas D. 
Eliot, John Z. Goodrich, Charles W. Upham, 
Samuel H. Walley, Tappan Wentworth — 10. 

Rhode Island— Thomas Davis, Benjamin B. 
Thurston— 2. 

Connecticut— Nathan Belcher, James T. 
Pratt, Origeu S. Seymour — 3. 

Vermo.nt — James Meacham, Alvah Sabin, 
Andrew Tracy — 3. 

New-York — Henry Bennett, Davis Carpen- 
ter, Gilbert Dean, Caleb Lyon, Reuben E. Fen- 
ton, Thomas T. Flashier, George Hastings, Solo- 
mon G. Haven, Charles Hughes, Daniel T. Jones, 
Orsamus B. Matteson, Edwin B. Morgan, 
William Murray, Andrew Oliver, Jared V. Peck, 
Rufus W. Peckham, Bishop Perkins, Benjamin 
Pringle, Russell Sage, George A. Simmons, 
Gerrit Smith, John Wheeler — 22. 

New-Jersey — Alex. C. M. Pennington, 
Charles Skelton, Nathan T. Stratton— 3. 

Pennsylvania — Joseph R. Chandler, Carlton 
B. Curtis, John Dick, Augustus Drum, William 
Everhart, James Gamble, Galusha A. Grow, 
Isaac E. Hicster, Thomas M. Howe, John Mc- 
Culloch, Ncr Middleswarth, David Ritchie, 
Samuel L. Russell, Michael C. Trout— 14. 

Ohio— Edward Ball, Lewis D. Campbell, 
Alfred P. Edgerton, Andrew Ellison, Joshua R. 
GiddingS, Aaron Harlan, John Scott Harri- 
son, H. H. Johnson, William D. Lindsley, M. H. 
Nichols, Thomas Richey, William R. Sapp, 
Andrew Stuart, John L. Taylor, Edward Wade 
—15. 

Indiana— Andrew J. Harlan, Daniel Mace, 
Samuel W. Parker — 3. 

Illinois — James Knox, Jesse O. Norton, 
Elihu B. Washburne, John Wentworth, Richard 
Yates— b. 

Michigan— David A. Noble, Hestor L. Ste- 
vens — 2. 

Wisconsin— Benjamin C. Eastman, Daniel 
Wells, Jr.— 2. 

Iowa — None. California— Vo'te. Total— 91. 



SOUTHERN STATES. 

Virginia— John S. Millson- 1. 

North Carolina — JRic/tarci C. Puryear, 
Sion H. Rogers—^. ,,,.„. ^ , 

Tennessee— i^oieri! M. Bugg, William Cul- 
lom, Emerson Etheridge, Nathaniel G. Tay- 
lor— 'i. 

Louisiana — Theodore G. Hunt — 1. 

Missouri- Thomas H. Benton— I. 

Other Southern States— Ao?jc. Total— 9. 

Total, Free and Slave States— 100. 

ABSENT, OR NOT VOTING— 21. 

N. England States— mV/Zam Appleton of 
Mass. — 1. ^ ,, 

New- York— Geo. W. CAase, James Maurice 
2 

Pennsylvania— iVowe. New-Jersey— iVone. 

Ohio— George Bliss, Moses B. Convin—2. 

Illinois— Wm. H. Bissell— 1. 

California — Nojie. 

Indiana— Eben M. Chamberlain- 1. 

Michigan— iV<j?»e. Iowa— John P. Cook— I. 

W iscoNsiN— John B. Macy— 1. 

Total from Free States— 9. 

Maryland— Jo/m R. Franklin, Augustus R. 
Sollcrs—'i. 

Vi RGiNi A— Fayette McMullon— 1. 

North Carolina — A'ojjc. Delaware — 
No7ie. 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



85 



South Cauomna— Win. Aikeu, Lawrence M. 
Keitt, John iMcQiircn— 3. 

(jKoKcii A— Wni. IJ. W. Ucnt, Jmiic-s L. Seward 
—2. 

Alabama — Noiif. 

Mississippi — Wiley P. Harris — 1. 

Kentucky— Liun Boyd, (SiHJtiker,) Presley 
Ewiiiff — 2. 

M isso I' n I — Sam uel Carufh<'rs — 1 . 

Arkansas— A'o/i<?. Fi.okida — Xonc. 

Tkxas — yonc. Texnkssek — Xone. 

Lo u I s I a n a — Xone. 

'J'otal from Slave States— 12. 

Wliig« in Ildlics. Abolitionists in SMALL CAPITALS. 
Semocrat8 in Eoman. 

May 2'.i(L — The bill being thus sent to 
the Senate (not as a Senate but as a House 
bill), was sent at once to the Committee of 
the Whole, and there briefly considered. 

3Iaij2itli. — Mr. Pearce of Md. moved to 
strike out the clause in sec. 5 which ex- 
tends the right of suffrage to 

'' those who ehall have declared on oath their 
intention to become such, [citizens] and shall 
have taken an oath to support the Constitution 
of the United States, and tiie provisions of tliis 
act." 

Negatived — Yeas ; Bayard, Bell, Brod- 
hcad, Brown, Clayton, Pearce, and Thomp- 
son of Ky Nays 41. 

The bill was then ordered to be engrossed 
for a third reading — Yeas 35 ; Nays 13, as 
follows : 

YEAS — For Engrossing : 

Messrs. Atchison, Mo. Ma.'ion, Vn. 

Bndr^er, N. C. Morton, Fla. 

Benjamin, La. Norris, N. II. 

Brodhead, Pa. Pearce, Md. 

Brown, Miss. Pcttit, lud. 

Butler, S. C. Pratt, Md. 

Cass, Mich. Rusk, Texas, 

Clay, Ala. Sebastian, Ark. 

Dawson, Ga. Shields, 111. 

Douglas, 111. Slidell, La. 

Fitz.patnck, Ala. Stiuirt, Mich. 

Gwin, Cal. Thompson, Ky. 

Hunter, Va. Thomson, N. J. 

Johnson, Ark. Toombs, Ga. 

Jones, Iowa, Toucey, Ct. 

Joncx, Tenn. Weller, Cal. 

Mallory, Fla. Williams, N. H. 
Wright, N. J.— 35. 

NAYS — Against Engrossing : 
Messrs. Allen, R. L Gillette, Ct. 

Bel/, Tenn. Hamlin, Me. 

Chase, Ohio, James, R. I. 

Clayton, Del. Hcieanl, X. Y. 

Finh, N. Y. Sum.ver, Mass. 

Foot, Vt. Wade, Ohio, 

Walker, Wise— 13. 

DemocratR in Roman ; Whigs in Italics ; Free Demo- 
crats in Small Caps. 

The bill was then passed without further 
division, and, being approved by the Presi- 
dent, became a law. Its provisions are as 
follows : 

An Act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and 
Kansan. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and Houne of Rep- 
resentatives of the United States of America in 
Congress assembled : That all that part of the 



Territory of the United States included within the 
followinglimitH,«'Xcept nu<-li))ortioiiH tin rcofasare 
liereinaClt-r expre»Mly c.xcniplfil from the oj)era- 
tionH of thin act, to wit : b(')rinnin(; at a point in 
the MiHHouri river where the fortieth pariillel of 
north latitude ltohki-h tlit-Hanie; thence Wf«t on 
said parallel to tlie eiiht boundary of the Territory 
of Utah on the siiinniit of the Kocky Mountains; 
thence on waid Hununit northward to tin- forty- 
ninth puralk-l of north latitude; thence caxt on 
said parallel to the western Itoundary of the Ter- 
ritory of MiiMicHota ; thence southward on Kttid 
boundary to the Missouri river : tlieiic<; down the 
main <-haunel of said river to lli<; place of Ite^in- 
ninj;, bo, and the SHnu; is hereby creute(| into a 
tenij)()rary },'overninent by the nimie of th<' Terri- 
tory of Nebraska ; and when admitted as a State 
or States, the said Teiritory, or any i)orti<jn of the 
same, shall be received into the Union with or 
without Slavery, as their constitution may pre- 
scribe at the time of their admission : Provided, 
That nolhin}; in this act contained shall be con- 
strued to inhibit the (,'ovcrnmeut of the United 
Stales from dividin;,' said Territory into two or 
more territories, in such irumner and at such times 
as Congi'ess shall deem convenient and proper, or 
from attaching any portion of said Territory to 
any other State or Territory of the United States: 
Provided further. That nothing in this act con- 
tained shall be construed to impair the rights of 
iierson or property now pertaining to the Indians 
m said Territory, so hmg as such rights shall re- 
main unextinguished by treaty between the Uni- 
ted States and such Indians, or to include any 
Territory which, by treaty with any Indian tribe, 
is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be in- 
eluded within the territorial limits or jurisdiction 
of any State or Teiritory ; but all such Territory 
shall be excepted out of the boundaries, iuid con- 
stitute no part of the Territory of Nebraska, until 
said tribe shall signify their assent to the Presi- 
dent of the United States to be included within 
the said Territory of Nebraska, or to aftect the 
authority of the government of the United States 
to make any regulations respecting such Indians, 
their lands, property, or other rights, by treaty, 
law, or otheiTvise, which it would have been 
competent to the government to make if this act 
had never passed. 

Sec. 2. That the executive power and authori- 
ty in and over said Territory of Nebraska shall 
be vested in a governor, who shall hold his office 
for four yeai-8, and until his successor shall be 
appointed and qualilied, unless sooner removed 
by the President of the United States. The gov- 
ernor shall reside within said Territory, and shall 
be communder-in-chief of the militia thereof, lie 
may grant pardons and respites for oftenses 
against the laws of said Territory, and reprieves 
for oftenses a^^ainst the laws of the United States, 
until the decision of the President can be made 
known thereon ; he shall commission all officere 
who shall be appointed to office under the laws 
of the said Territory, and shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed. 

Sec. 3. That there shall be a secretary of said 
Territory, who shall reside therein, and hold his 
office for five years, unless sooner removed by 
the President of the United States ; he shall re- 
cord and i)reserve all the laws and proceedings 
of (he legislative assembly hereinafter constitut- 
ed, and all the acts and jniicf ediiigs of the govern- 
or in his executive deparinieiit ; he shall Irar.s- 
mit one copy of the laws and journals of the le- 
gislative assembly, within thirty davs after the 
end of each session, and one copy ot the execu- 
tive proceedings and official con'cspondence 
semi-annually on the tirst davs of January and 
July in each year, to the President of the United 
States, and two copies of the laws to the Presi- 
dent of tL£ Senate and to the JSpeaker of the 



86 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



House of Eeproseutatives, to be deposited in the 
libniries of Congress ; and, in ease of the death, 
removal, vesication, or absence of tlie governor 
from the Territory, the secretary shall be, and he 
is hereby authorized and re(iuired to execute and 
perform all the powers and duties of the governor 
during such vacancy or absence, or until another 
governor shall be duly appointed and qualified to 
fill such vacancy. 

Skc. 4. That the legislative power and authori- 
ty of said Tcrritoi-y shall be vested in the governor 
and a legislative assembly. The legislative as- 
sembly shall consist of a council and house of 
representatives. The council shall consist of 
thirteen members, having the qualifications of 
voters as hereinafter prescribed, whose term of 
service shall continue two years. Tho house of 
representatives shall, at its first session, consist 
of twenty-six members, possessing the same 
qualifications as prescribed for members of the 
council, and whose term of service shall continue 
one year. The number of representatives may 
be increased by the legislative assembly, from 
time to time, in proportion to the increase of 
qualified voters ; Provided^ That the whole num- 
ber shall never exceed thirty-nine ; an apportion- 
ment shall be made as nearly equal as practica- 
ble, among the several counties or districts, for 
the election of the council and representatives, 
giving to each section of the territory representa- 
tion in the ratio of its qualified voters as nearly 
as may be. And the members of the council and 
of the house of representatives shall reside in, and 
be inhabitants of, the district or county, or coun- 
ties, for which they maybe elected, respectively. 
Previous to the first election, the governor shiiU 
cause a census, or enumeration of the inhabitants 
and qualified voters of the several counties and 
districts of the territory, to be taken by such 
persons and in such mode as the governor shall 
designate and appoint ; and the persons so ap- 
pointed shall receive a reasonable compensation 
therefor. And the first election shall be held at 
such times, and places, and be conducted in 
such manner, both as to the persons who shall 
superintend such election, and the returns there- 
of, as the governor shall appoint and du'eet ; and 
he shall at the same time declare the number of 
members of the council and house of representa- 
tives to which each of the counties or districts 
shall be entitled under this act. Tho ^lersons 
having the highest number of le^al votes in each 
of said council districts for members of the coun- 
cil, shall b^-declared by the governor to be duly 
elected to the council; and the persons having 
the highest number of legal votes for the house 
of representatives, shall be declared by the 
governor to be duly elected members of 
said house: Provided, That in case two or 
more persons voted for shall have an equal 
number of votes, and in case a vacancy 
shall otherwise occur in either branch of the 
legislative assembly, the governor shall order a 
new election ; and the persons thus elected to the 
legislative assembly shall meet at such place and 
on such day as the governor shall appoint ; but 
thereafter, the time, place, and manner of holding 
and conducting all elections by the people, and 
the apportioning the representation in the 
several counties or districts to the council and 
house of representatives, according to tho num- 
ber of qualified voters, shall bo prescribed by 
law, as well as the day of the commencement of 
the regular sessions of the legislative assembly : 
Provided , That no session in any one year shall 
exceed tho term of forty days, except the first 
session, which may continue sixty days. 

Skc. f). That every free white male inhabitant 
above the ago of twenty-one years, who shall be 
an actual resident of said teiTitory, and shall 
possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed. 



shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and 
shall be eligible to any ofiice within the said ter- 
ritory ; but the qualifications of voters, and of 
holding office, at all subsequent elections, shall 
be such as shall be prescribed by the legislative 
assembly : Provided, That the right of suffrage 
and of holding oflice shall be exercised only by 
citizens of the United States and those who shall 
have declared on oath their intention to become 
such, and shall have taken an oath to support 
the Constitution of the United States and the 
provisions of this act: Aiid provided further, 
That no officer, soldier, seaman, or marine, or 
other person in the army or navy of the United 
States, or attached to troops in the service of the 
United States, shall be allowed to vote or hold 
office in said territory, by reason of being on 
service therein. 

Sec. 6. That the legislative power of the terri- 
tory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legis- 
lation consistent with the Constitution of the 
United States and the provisions of this act ; but 
no law shall be passed interfering with the pri- 
mary disposal of the soil ; no tax shall be imposed 
upon the property of the United States ; nor shall 
the lands or other property of non-residents be 
taxed higher than the lands or other property of 
residents. Every bill which shall have passed 
the council and house of representatives of the 
said territory, shall, before it become a law, be 
presented to the governor of the territory ; if he 
approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall re- 
tm-n it with his objections, to the house in which 
it originated, who shall enter the objections at 
large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider 
it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of 
that house shaU agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
sent, together with the (Objections to the other 
house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, 
and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it 
shall become a law. But in all such cases the 
votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas 
and nays, to be entered on the journal of each 
house respectively. If any bill shall not be re- 
turned by the governor, within three days (Sun- 
days excepted) after it shall have been presented 
t(i him, the same shall be a law in like manner as 
if lie hud signed it, viuless the assembly, by ad- 
journment, prevent its return, in which case it 
shall not be a law. 

Sec. 7. That all township, district, and county 
officers, not herein otherwise provided for, shall 
be appointed or elected, as the case may be, in 
such manner as shall be provided by the gov- 
ernor and legislative assembly of the Tcrritoi'y 
of Nebraska. The governor shall nominate, and, 
by and with the advice and consent of the legis- 
lative council, appoint all ofiicers not herein 
otherwise provided for ; and in the first instance 
the governor alone may appoint all said officers, 
who shall hold their offices until the end of the 
first session of the legislative assembly ; and shall 
lay oft' the necessary districts for members of the 
council and house of representatives, and all 
other officers. 

Sec 8. That no member of the legislative as- 
sembly shall hold, or be appointed to, any office 
which shall have been created, or the_ salary or 
or emoluments of which shaUhavebeen increased, 
while he was a member, during the term for 
which he was elected, and for one year after the 
expiration of such term; but this restriction shall 
not be applicable to members of Ihe first legisla- 
tive assembly ; and no person holding a commis- 
sion or appointment under the United States, ex- 
cept postmasters, shall be a member of the legis- 
lative assembly, or shall hold any office under 
the government of said territory. 

Sec. 9. That the judicial power of said Territo- 
ry shall be vested in a supreme com't, district 
courts, probate courts, and in justices of tho 



TUE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



BT 



poaco. The sunrcino court hIuiII consist of n 
chief juKticc iiiKl two iiHsociiito justices, any two 
of wl'ioiii sliiiU .ouMtituto (I iiiionim, niul wlio 
shall hokl II Icnii at tho scat of t;ovcnmifnt ot 
Bail! Territory unuually, and tlicy shall hokl their 
offices durinj,' tlio period of four yeius, and until 
thoir succc«s(U-s shall be appointed and ciualilied. 
Tlio saidTcrritorv shall he divided into tliiee judi- 
cial districts, and a district court shall he held in 
each of said districts by one of the justices ol tho 
supreme court, at sudi times and \>l«ces as may 
bo proscribed by law ; and the said jud^jes shall, 
after their appointments, resiicclively, reside in 
tlio disti-ict which shall be assi^'ned them. The 
jurisdiction of tho several courts herein provided 
i'or, both appellate and orit;iiial, and that of tho 
j)robate courts and of justices of the peace, shall 
be as limited by law: I'rotiilnl, That justices of 
the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any mat- 
ter m controversy when the title ov boundaries 
of land may bo in dispute, or where the debt or 
sum claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars ; 
and tho said supremo and district courts, re- 
spectively, shall possess chancery us well as com- 
mon law jurisdiction. Each districtt court, or the 
jud'^o thereof, shall appoint its clerk, who sliall 
also be the rey;i8ter in chancery, and shall kcej) 
liis olHce at tiie place where tho court may be 
held. Writs of error, bills of e.\ce(jtiou, and ap- 
peals shall be allowed in ail cases from tho final 
decision of said district courts to tho supreme 
court, under such rejj^ulatious as may bo i)ro- 
scribed by law ; but iu no case removed to the 
supremo court shall trial by jury be allowed in 
said court. Tho supremo court, or the justices 
tliereof, shall appoint its own clerk, and every 
clerk sliall liold his office at tho pleasure of tho 
court for which he sliall have been appointed. 
Writs of error, and appeals from the linal decision 
of said supreme court, shall be allow^ed, and inay 
bo taken to tho supreme court of the United 
States, in tho same manner and under the same re- 
gulations as from the circuit courts of tho United 
States, where the value of the property, or the 
amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the 
oath or aflirmatiou of either party, or other com- 
peteut witness, shall exceed one thousand dol 
lars ; except only that in all cases involving title 
to slaves, the said writs of error or appeals shall 
be allowed and decided by tho said supreme 
court, without regard to the value of the matter, 
property, or title iu controversy ; and except also 
that a writ of error or appeal shall also be allowed 
to the supreme court of the Uiiitetl States, from 
the decisions of the said supreme court created 
by this act, or of any judge tliereof, or of the dis- 
trict courts created by this act, or of any judge 
thereof, upon any writ of habeas corpus, involv- 
ing the question of personal freedom ; Provided, 
That nothing herein contained shall be construed 
to apply to or affect the provisions of the " act 
respectmg fugitives from justice, and persons es- 
caping from the service of their masters," ap- 
proved February twelfth, seventeen hundred and 
ninety-three, and the " act to amend and supple- 
mentary to the aforesaid act," approved Septem- 
ber eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty ; and 
eacUoi the said district courts shall have and ex- 
ercise the same jurisdiction in all cases arisiii}' 
under tho Constitution and laws of tlio United 
States, as is vested in tho circuit and district 
courts of the United States ; and tho said supreme 
and district courts of the said Territory, and the 
respective judges thereof, shall and may ^rant 
writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the 
same are granted by tlie judges of the United 
States in the District of Columbia ; and the first 
six days of i-very tenu of said courts, or so much 
thereof as shall be necessary, shall be appropriat- 
ed to the trial of causes arising under the said 
Constitution and laws, and writs of error and ap- 



peal in all such cases shall bo made to tho su- 
preme court of said Territory, tho samo as in 
otlier cases. The said clerk sfiail ri'<eive ill all 
such cases the .sumo fees which the clerks of tho 
district courts of Utah Territory now receive for 
similar services. 

Skc. 10. That the provisions of an act entitled 
" An act respecting fugitives from justice, and 
jicrsons escaping from tho service of their mas- 
ters," approved February twelve, seventeen 
hundred and ninety-three, and the provisions of 
the act entitled " An act to aiiu-nd, ami siipplc- 
mentary to, the aforesaid act," approved Septem- 
ber eighteen, eighteen liundicd and lifty, be, and 
tho same arc hereby, declared to extend to, and 
bo in full force within, the limits of said TeiTitory 
of Nebraska. 

Skc. 11. That thoro shall bo appointed an at- 
torney for said Territory, will) shall continue in 
ollice for four years, and until his successor shall 
be appointed and mialified, unless sooner re- 
moved by the President, and who shall receive 
the same fees and salary as the attorney of tho 
United States for the present Territory of Utah. 
There shall also bo a marshal for the Territory 
ajipointed, who shall hold his ollice for four 
years, and until his successor shall bo apoointed 
and ([ualified, unless sooner removed by tlie Pre- 
sident, and who shall execute all processes issu- 
ing from tlio said courts when exercising their 
jurisdiction as circuit and district courts of the 
'United States; he shall porfonn tho duties, be 
subject to the same regulations and penalties, 
and be entitled to tho same fees as the marshal of 
the district court of the United States for the 
present Ten-itory of Utah, and shall, in addition, 
be paid two hundred dollars annually as a com- 
pensation for extra services. 

Skc. 12. That the governor, secretary, chief 
justice, and associate justices, attorney and mar- 
shal, shall bo nominated, and, by and with tho 
advice and consent of tho Senate, appointed by 
the President of tho United States. Tlio govern- 
or and secretary to bo appointed as aforesaid, 
shall, before they act as such, respectively take 
an oath or affirmation by the laws now in force 
therein, or before the chief justice or some asso- 
ciate justice of tho Supreme Court of the United 
States, to support the Constitution of the United 
States, and faithfully to discharge tho duties of 
their respective offices, which said oaths, when 
so taken, shall bo certified by the person by 
whom the same shall have boon taken ; and such 
certificates shall be received and recorded by the 
said secretary among tho executive ])roccedings : 
and the chief justice and associate justices, and 
all other civil officers in said Territory, before 
they act as sucli, shall take a like oath or affirm- 
ation before the said governor or secretary, or 
some judge or justiceof the peace of the territory 
who may be duly commissioned and qualified, 
which said oath or affirmation shall be certified 
and transmitted by the person taking the same to 
tho secretary, to be by him recorded as afore- 
said ; and a'fterwards "the like oath or aliirnm- 
tion shall be taken, certified, and reiorded. in 
such manner and form as may bo prescribed by 
law. The governor shall receive an annual sala- 
ry of two thousand five hundred dollars. The 
cliief justice and as.xociate justices shall receive 
an annual salary of two thousand dollars. Tho 
secretary shall receive an aiinnnl salary of 
two tluuisand dollars. The said salaries shall 
be paid quarter-yearly, from the dates of the re- 
spective appointments, at tho Treasury of the 
United States ; but no such pnyinent shall bo 
made until said officers shall have entered upon 
the duties of their respective appoiiilments. Tho 
iiieinbers of the legislative assembly shall bo 
entitled to receive three dollars each jjcr day du- 
ring their attendance nt the sessions thereof, and 



88 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



three dollars each for every twenty miles' travel 
in going to, and returuinff from, the said sessions, 
estimated according to tlie nearest usually-trav- 
eled route; and an additional allowance of three 
dollars shall be paid to the presiding otRcer of 
each house for each day he shall so preside. And 
a chief cieik, one assistant clerk, a sergeant at- 
arnis, and door keeper may be chosen for each 
house ; and the chief clerk shall i-eceive four dol- 
lars per day, and the said other officers three dol- 
lars per day, durini,^ tlu^ session of the legislative 
assembly ; but no other ofiicer shall be paid by 
the United States : Provided, That there shall be 
but one session of the legislature annually, un- 
less, on an exlraordinary occasion, the governor 
shall think proper to call the legislature together. 
There shall be appropriated, annually, the usual 
sum, to be expended Dy the governor to defray 
the contingent expenses of the territory, includ- 
ing the .salary of a clerk of the executive depart- 
ment; and there shall also be appropriated annu- 
ally, a sufficient sum. to bo expended by the 
secretary of the Territory, and upon an estimate to 
be made by the secretary of the Treasury of the 
United States, to defray the expenses of the legis- 
lative assembly, the printing of the laws, and 
other incidental expenses ; and the governor and 
secretary of the Territory shall, in the disburse- 
ment of all moneys intrusted to them, be govern- 
ed solely by the instructions of the secretary of 
the Treasury of the United States, and shall, semi- 
annually, account to the said secretary for the 
manner in which the aforesaid moneys shall have 
been expended ; and no expenditure shall be 
made by said legislative assembly for objects not 
specially authorized by the acts of Congress 
making the appropriations, nor beyond the sums 
thus appropriated for such objects. 

Sec. 13. That the legislative assembly of the 
Territory of Nebraska shall hold its first session 
at such time and place in said Territory as the 
governor thereof shall appoint and direct ; and at 
said first session, or as soon thereafter as they 
shall deem expedient, the governor and legisla- 
tive assembly shall proceed to locate and estab- 
lish the seat of government for said Territory at 
such place as they may deem eligible ; which 
place, however, shall thereafter be subject to be 
changed by the said governor and legislative as- 
sembly. 

Sec. 14. That a delegate to the House of Rep- 
resentatives of the United States, to servo for the 
term of two years, who shall be a citizen of the 
United States, may be elected by the voters quali- 
fied to elect members of the legislative assembly, 
who shall be entitled to the same rights and privi- 
leges as are exercised and enjoyed by the delegates 
from the several other territories of the United 
States to the said House of Representatives ; but 
the delegate first elected shall hold his seat only 
during the term of the Congress to which he shall 
be elected. The first election shall be held at 
such time and places, and be conducted in such 
manner, as the governor shall appoint and di- 
rect; and at all subsequent elections, the times, 
places, and manner of holding the elections shall 
be prescribed by law. The person having the 
greatest number of votes shall be declared by the 
governor to be duly elected, and a certificate 
thereof shall be given accordingly. That the 
Constitution and all the laws of the United 
States which are not locally inapplicable, shall 
have the same force and eft'ect within the said 
Territory of Nebraska as elsewhere within 
the United States, except the eighth section 
of the act ju'eparatory to the admission of Mis- 
souri into llio Union, approved March sixth, 
eighteen liuu<hed and twenty, which being in- 
consistent with the principle of non intervention 
by Congress with Slavery in the States and Ter- 
ritories, as recognized by tho legislation of eight- 



een hundred and fifty, commonly called the Com- 
promise Measures, is hereby declared inoperative 
and void ; it being the true intent and meaning 
of this act not to legislate Slavery info any Ter- 
rit(jry or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but 
to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form 
and regulate their domestic institutions in their 
own way, subject only to the Constitution of the 
United States : Provided, That nothing herein 
contained shall be construed to revive or put iu 
force any law or regulation which may have ex- 
isted prior to the act of si.xth of March, eighteen 
hundred and twenty, either protecting, establish- 
ing, prohibiting or abolishing. Slavery. 

Sec 15. That there shall hereafter be appro- 
priated, as has been customary for the territorial 
governments, a sufficient amount, to be expended 
under the direction of the said governor of the 
Territory of Nebraska, not exceeding the sums 
heretofore appropriated for similar objects, for 
the erection of suitable public buildings at the 
seat of government, and for the purchase of a 
library to be kept at the seat of government for 
the use of the governor, legislative assembly, 
judges of the supreme court, secretary, marshal, 
and attorney of said territory, and such other 
persons, and under such regulations as shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec 16. That when the lands in the said ter- 
ritory shall be survej'ed under the direction of 
the government of the United States, prepara- 
tory to bringing same into market, sections num- 
bered sixteen and thirty-six, in each township in 
said territory, shall be, and the same are hereby, 
reserved for the purpose of being applied to 
schools in said teritory, and in the States and Ter- 
ritories hereafter to be erected out of the same. 

Sec 17. That, until otherwise provided by law, 
the governor of said Territory may define the 
judicial districts of said Territory, and assign the 
judges who may be appointed for said Territory 
to the several districts ; and also appoint the 
times and places for holding courts in the several 
counties or subdivisions iu each of said judicial 
districts by proclamation, to be issued by him ; 
but the legislative assembly, at their first, or anj 
subsequent session, may organize, alter, or modi- 
fy such judicial districts, and assign the judges, 
and alter the times and places of holdmg tho 
courts, as to them shall seem proper and con- 
venient. 

Sec 18. That all officers to be appointed by 
the President, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, for the Territory of Nebraska, who, 
by virtue of the provisions of any law now exist- 
ing, or which may be enacted during the present 
Congress, are required to give security for moneys 
that may be intrusted with them for disburse- 
ments, shall give such security, at such time and 
place, and in sucti manner as the Secretary of the 
Treasury may prescribe. 

Sec 19. That all that part of the ten-itory of 
the United States included within the following 
limits, except such portions thereof as are here- 
inafter expressly exempted from the operations 
of this act, to wit : beginning at a point on the 
western boundary of the State of Missouri, where 
the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses 
the same ; thence west on said parallel to the 
eastern boundary of New-Mexico ; thence north 
on said boundary to latitude tliirty-eight ; thence 
following said boundary westward to the east 
boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit 
of the Kocky Mountains; thence northward ou 
said summit to the fortieth parallel of latitude ; 
thence east on said parallel to the western bound- 
ary of tho State of Missouri ; thence south with 
the western boundary of said State to the place 
of beginning, bo, and the same is hereby, created 
into a temporary government by the name of tho 
Territory of Kansas; and when admitted as a 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



89 



State or Rtntos, tho said Tciiitdry, or any por- 
tion of the siimc, hIiiiU ho rccoivod iiit" llio Union 
witli or Willi. .ut Siuvfrv, ns tlicir < N.iiwlitiifion 
may orcscrilio at tlio tinio ol" tlu'ir aihnisKion : 
Provided, That notiiin;,' in llii.-< act conlaiiird 
shall bo coimtrin-il to inhibit the (lovennncnt i.f 
Iho Unili'd StalcH tVoni diviilin^' naid Territory 
into two or more territories, in hiicIi inimner and 
at siieh tinien as Con.i,'re«K shall deem eonveiiieiit 
nnd nroper, or from attaehin;,' any porlioii of said 
Terrilorv to any other (State or Territory of the 
United Slates: Provided fiir//ifr, That nolhinj,' 
in thin aet ooiitaiucd shall bo bo construed as to 
impair tho ri^jhts of person or prop<'rty now per- 
tainiii;,' to the Indians in said Territory, so Ion;; 
tts such rii,'hts shidl remain unexlin;,'uisiie(l hy 
Ireuly between the Uiuted States and such Indians, 
or lo include any territory which, hy treaty with 
any Indian Irihe, is not, wiliiout the consent of 
Raid tribe, to be included within tho territorial 
Ihnits or jurisdiction of any State or Terrilorv ; 
but all 6uch territory shall bo excepted out of the 
boundaries, and constitute no part of tho Terri- 
tory of Kansas, until said tribe shall siijnify their 
assent to the President of the United Sljites to ho 
included wilhiu tho said Territory of Kansas, or 
to atfecl the authority of tho Government of the 
United Slates to make any rc;;ulation respecting 
such Indians, thoirlands.property, or other rights, 
by treaty, law, or othei-wiso, which it would have 
been competent to the Government to make if 
this act had never passed. 

[The next scvonteca sections substantially re- 
peat the foregoing, save that their provisions 
apply to Kansas iu.stead of Nebraska. The final 
section refers to both Territories, as follows :] 

Skc. 37. And be it further enacfod, that nil 
treaties, laws, and other engagements made by 
the Government of the United States with tho 
Indian tribes inhabiting the teiTitories embraced 
■within this act, shall be faithfully nnd rigidly 
observed, notwithstanding anything contained in 
this aet ; and that the existing agencies and su- 
perintendencies of said Indians bo continued with 
tho same powers and duties which are now pro- 
scribed by law, except that the President of the 
United States may, at his discretion, change the 
location of the office of superintendent. 



No action of any moment with regard to 
Slavery in the Territories was taken in 
either House at the Second (short) Session 
of this Congress. 



KANSAS ORGANIZED, 

The struggle respecting Slavery in 
Kansas which followed the organization of 
that Territory, under the Provisions of the 
act just recited, is yet too recent and incom- 
plete to justify an attempt to write its his- 
tory. All that can be prudently done as 
yet, is to collect and arrange the most im- 
portant documents in which its incidents 
are detailed, and its principles discussed, and 
this we now proceed to do, without attempt- 
ing to reconcile the gloomy discrepancies 
between the statements submitted on the 
one side and on the other, respectively. 
Though it will not be possible in this 
course to avoid repeated statements of the 
same fact, and an occasional devotion of 
undue space to a point undeserving of such 



I elaborate treatment, yet, tlie measurable 
! aiitliciiticity of statement, thus secured, and 
the iiglit cast on the genera! tlieme by the 
coiiiiictiiig views tlms presented, serve to 
give this the preiereiice over any other 
mode of narrating so nearly cotcmporaneous 
with their ciiroiiicle a.s the.se. We proceed, 
then, with our record, which must hence- 
fortli consist mainly of ]Miblic ducumentfi, 
submitted to the current ('(ingress, connect- 
ed by the merest thread of narrative. 

Dec. 3rd, IHf);').— The XXXI Vth Con- 
gress convened at the Capital, in Wiushing- 
ton, — Je.sse D. Uright of Iiid. holding over 
a.s I'resident pro tempore of the Senate, in 
place of Vice-President William R. King 
of Alaiiama, deceast^l. A quorum of 
either Hou.se was found to be present. 

But the IIou.sc found il.self unable to or- 
ganize by tlie choice of a Speaker, initii after 
an unprecedented struggle of nine weeks' 
duration. Finally, on Saturday, Feb. 20th, 
1850, the plurality-rule was adopted — Yeas 
113 ; Nays 10-1 — and the House proceeded 
under it to its one hundred and tlurtij-third 
ballot for speaker, when Nathaniel P. 
Banks, Jr., (anti-Nebraska) of Massachu- 
sets, was chosen, having 103 votes to 100, 
for William Aiken of South Carolina. 
Eleven votes scattered on other persons did 
not count against a choice. It was there- 
fore resolved — Yeas 1.5.5 ; Nays 40 — that 
Mr. Banks was duly elected Speaker, 

But. during the pendency of this election, 
the President had transmitted to both 
Houses, first (Dec. 31st) his Annual Mes- 
sage, and next (Jan. 24th) a special mes- 
sage with regard to the condition of Kansas, 
which is as follows : 

MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT. 

Washi.vgto.v, Jan. 24, 1856. 
To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

Circumstances have occurred to disturb the 
course of governmental organization in the Ter- 
ritory of Kansas, and produce there n condition 
of things which renders it incumbent on me to 
call your attention to the subject, and urgently 
recommend the adoption by you of sucli measures 
of legislation as the grave exigencies of the case 
appear to require. 

A brief exposition of the circumstances refer- 
red to, and of their causes, will be necessary to 
the full understanding of the recommendations 
which it is proposed to submit. 

Tho act to organize the Territories of Nebras- 
ka and Kansas was a manifestation of tho legis- 
lative opinion of Congress on two great pomts 
of constitutional construction: One, that the de- 
signation of the boundaries of a now Territory, 
and provision for its political organization and 
administration as a Ti^-ritory, arc meosures 
which of right fall within the powers of tho Gene- 
ral Government ; and the other, that the inhab- 
itants of any such Territory, considered as an 
inchoate State, are entitled, in the exercise of 
self- government, to determine for themselves 
whot shall be their own domestic institutions, 
subject only to the Constitution and the laws duly 
enacted by Congress under it, and to the power 
of the existing States to decide, acoordiug to the 



90 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



provieions and principles of the Constitution, at 
•what time tlie Territory shall be received as a 
State into the Union. Such are the great politi- 
cal rights which are solemnly declared and afJirm- 
ed by that act. 

Based upon this theory, the act of Congress 
defined for cacli Territory the outlines of repub- 
lican government, distributing public authority 
among the lawfully created agents — executive, 
judicial and legislative — to be appointed either 
by tiie (iencrui Govermiient or by the Territory. 
The legislative functions were intrusted to a 
Council and a House of Representatives, duly 
elected and empowered to enact all the local laws 
■which they might deem essential to their pros- 
perity, hap'piuess and good government. Acting 
in the same spirit, Congress also defined the per- 
sons who were in the first instance to be con- 
sidered as the people of each Territory ; enact- 
ing that evcrv free white male inhabitant of the 
same above the age of twenty-one years, being 
au actual resident thereof, and possessing the 
qualifications hereafter described, should be en- 
titled to vote at the first election, and be eligible 
to any office within the Territory ; but that the 
qualifications of voters and holding ofiice at all 
subsequent elections should be such as might be 
prescribed by the Legislative Assembly : Provi- 
ded, hoicevcr, That the right of suffrage and of 
holding office should be exercised only by citi- 
zens ot the United States, and tho.se who should 
have declared on oath theii- intention to become 
such, and have taken an oath to support the 
Constitution of the United States and the provi- 
sions of the act : And provided, further, That no 
officer, soldier, seaman or marme, or other per- 
son in the army or navy of the United States, or 
attached to troops in their service, should be al- 
lowed to vote or hold office in either Territory by 
reason of being on service therein. 

Such of the public officers of the Territoriesas, 
by the provisions of the act, were to be appoint- 
ed by the General Government, including the 
Governors, were appointed and commissioned in 
due season — the law having been enacted on the 
30th of May, 1854, and the commission of the 
Governor of the Territory of Nebra-ska bein^ 
dated on the 2ud day of August, 1854, and ot 
the Territories of Kansas on the 29th day of 
June, 1854. 

Among the duties knposed by the act on the 
governors, was that of directing and superintend- 
ing the political organization of the respective 
Territories. The Governor of Kansas was re- 
quired to cause a census or enumeration of the 
inhabitants and qualified voters of the several 
counties and districts of the Territory to be taken, 
by such persons and in such mode as he might 
designate and appoint ; to aijpoint and direct the 
time and places of holding the first elections, and 
the manner of conducting them, both as to the 
persons to superintend such elections, and the re- 
turns thereof; to declare the number of the mem- 
bers of the Council and House of Representatives 
for each county or district ; to declare what per- 
sons might appear to be duly elected; and to 
ajipoiut the time and place of the first meeting of 
the Legislative Assembly. lu substance, the 
same duties were devolved on the Governor of 
Nebraska. 

While, by this act, the principle of constitu- 
tion for each of the Territories was one and the 
same, and the details of organic legislation re- 
garding both were as nearly as could be identical, 
and while the Territory of Nebraska was tran- 
quilly anil succLBsl'uUy organized in the due 
course of law, and its first Legislative Assembly 
met on the luth of January, 1855, the organiza- 
tion of Kansas was Ion" delayed, and has been 
attended with serious diliiculties and embarrass- 
meuts, partly the cousequenco of local mal- 



administration, and partly of the unjustifiable 
interference of the inhabitants of some of the 
States, foreign by residence, interests, and rights 
to the Terril:ory. 

The Governor of the Territory of Kansas, com- 
missioned, as before stated, on the SDtli of June, 
1854, did not reach the designated seat of his 
government until the 7fh of the ensuing October, 
and even then failed to make the first step in its 
legal organization — that of ordering the census 
or enumeration of its inhabitants — until so late 
a day that the election of the members of the 
Legislative Assembly did not take place until 
the 30th of March, 1855, nor its meeting until the 
2d of July, 1855 ; so that, for a year after the 
Ten-itory was constituted by the act of Congress, 
and the officers to be appoint-ed by the Fetleral 
Executive had been commissioned, it was without 
a complete government, without any legislative 
authority, without local law, and, of course, with- 
out the ordinary guarantees of peace and public 
order. 

In other respects, the Governor, instead of ex- 
ercising constant vigilance and putting forth all 
his energies to prevent or counteract the tenden- 
cies to illegality which are prone to exist in all 
imperfectly-organized and newly-associated com- 
munities, allowed his attention to bo diverted 
from official obligation by other objects, and 
himself set au example of the violation of law in 
the performance of acts which rendered it my 
duty, in the sequel, to remove him from the office 
of chief executive magistrate of the Territory. 

Before the requisite preparation was accom- 
plished for election of a Territorial Legislature, 
an election of delegate to Congress had been held 
in the Territory on the 29th day of November, 
1854, and the delegate took his seat in the House 
of Representatives without challenge. I f iirrange- 
ments had been perfected by the Governor so 
that the election for members of the Legislative 
Assembly might be held in the several precincts 
at the same time as for delegate to Congress, any 
question appertaining to the qualification of the 
persons voting as people of the Territory, would 
have passed necessarily and at once under the 
supervision of Congress, as the judge of the va- 
lidity of the return of the delegate, and would 
have been determined before conflicting passions 
had become inflamed by time, and before oppor- 
tunity could have been afforded for systematic 
interference of the people of individual States. 

This interference, in so far as concerns its 
primary causes and its immediate counneuce- 
ineut, was one of the incidents of that pernicious 
agitation on the subject of the condition of the 
colored persons held to service in some of the 
States, which has so long disturbed the repose of 
our country, and excited individuals, otherwise 
patriotic and law-abiding, to toil with misdb-ected 
zeal in the attempt to propagate their social 
theories by the perversion and abuse of the powers 
of Congress. 

The persons and parties whom the tenor of the 
act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and 
Kansas thwarted in the endeavor to impose, 
through the agency of Congress, their particular 
views of social organization on the people of the 
future new States, now perceiving that the jjolicy 
of leaving the inhabitants of each State to judge 
for themselves in this respect was ineradicably 
rooted in the convictions of the people of the 
Union, then had recourse, in the pursuit of their 
general object, to the extraordinary measure of 
propagandist colonization of the Territory of 
Kansas, to prevent the free and natural action 
of its inhabitants in its internal organization, and 
tiius to anticipate or to force the determination 
of that question in this inchoate State. 

With such views, associations were organized 
iu some of the States, and their purpose was pro- 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



91 



I 



clnimcil thioiif,'h tlio press in InngunRO extremely 
irritaliiifj imd offcMmivo to those of wliom tin; 
colonists wcretii beemne tlio neif;lil)i>rs. TIkisc 
deai>;ns iiiul lut.-t liml the neceHsary ci>iiHe(iuciieo 
to nwiik.n iniotioiis of intenno iiidijiiiutioii in 
Stat.H iK-nr lo the Territory of KmiKiiH, nnd espe 
cially in iIk' adjoining' State of Missouri, whose 
donicstic pi'Mcc was thus tiie most directly en- 
dan<;ereil: hnt Ihev ore far from justilyinf,' tlie 
ille;,'al and reprelieuuible counter-niovementM 
whieli ensued. 

Under these inauspieious cireumntaneca, the 
primary elections for members of the Legislative 
Assembly were held in most, if not all, of the 
preeinels, at the time and the places and by the 
persons d<si;;nated and appointed by the Govern- 
or, aecordin)^ to law. 

An^'ry accusations that illc-jal votes had been 
polled, "ahouniled on all sides, and imputations 
were made both of fraud and violence. l?ut tiie 
Governor, in the e.xerelse of the power and the 
discharge of the duty eonf^rred and imposed by 
law on him alone, officially received and eon- 
eidereil the returns; declared a lar;;e niMuuity of 
the members of the Council and the House of 
Representatives -'duly elected;"' wilhheld certi- 
ficates from others because of alle^jed illegality 
of votes; appointed a new ele<ttion to supply the 
place of the persons not eertitied; and thus, at 
length, in all the forms of statute, and with his 
own otficial authentication, complete legality was 
iven to the first Legislative Assembly of the 
erritory. 

Those decisions of the returningofficers and of 
the Governor are final, except that by the par- 
liamentary usage of the country applied to the 
organic law, it may be conceded that each House 
of the Assembly must have been competent to do- 
teiinine. in thelast resort, the qualilications and 
the election of its members. The subj<ct was, by 
its nature, one appertaining exclusively to the 
jurisdiction of the local authorities of the Terri- 
tory. Whatever irregularitii'S may have oc- 
cuncd in the elections, it srcnis too late now to 
raise that question as to which, neither now nor 
at any previous time, has the least possible legal 
authority been possessed by the Tre-sident of the 
United States. For all present purposes the le- 
gislative body, thus constituted and elected, was 
the legitimate assembly of tlie Territory. 

Accordingly, the Governor, by proclamation, 
convened the Assembly thus elected to meet at 
a place called I'awnee City. The two Houses 
met, and were duly organized in the ordinary 
parliamentary form ; each sent to and received 
ti-om the fiovernor the official connnunications 
usual on such occasions ; an elaborate Message 
opeidug the session was communicated by tiie 
Governor, and the general business of legislation 
wa.? entered upon by the Legislative Assembly. 

But, after a few days, the Assembly resolved to 
adjourn to another place in the Territory. A law 
•Was accordingly passed, against the consent of 
tlie Governor, but in due form otherwise, to re- 
move the seat of government temporarily to the 
" Shawnee Manual-labor School' (or mission), 
and thither the As.senibly proceeded. After this, 
receiving a bill for the establishment of a ferrv at 
the town of Kickapoo, the (rovernor refused to 
sign it, and, by special message, assigned for 
reason of refusal, not anything objectionable in 
the bill itself, nor any pretense of the illegality 
or incompetency of the Assembly as such, but 
only the tact that the Assembly had, by its act, 
transferred the seat of government temjjorarily 
from I'awnee City to Shawnee ^Mission. For the 
same reason he continued to refuse to sign other 
bills, until, in the course of a few days, he, by 
official Message, communicated to the Assembly 
the fact that he had received notification of the 
termination of his functions as Governor, and 



that the dutien of the office were legally devolved 
on the Secretary of the Territory ; thus lo tbo lust 
rcco;;ni7.ing the body as a didycleeted and con- 
stituted Legislative AsHcmbly. 

It will be jjerceived that if any constitutional 
defect attached to the legiHlativc nctB of the 
Assend)ly, it is not pretended lo consist iu irregu- 
larity of eh'ctioti or want of ipialification of the 
mondjers, but only iu the chaTige of its place of 
session. IIowev<r triviid the objection may 
Bcem to be, it requires to be considered, because 
upon it is founded all that superstructure of acts, 
plainly against law, which now threatens the 
peace not only of Uie Territory of Kansas but of 
the Union. 

Such an objection to the proceedingB of the 
Legislative Assend^ly was of exceptionable ori- 
gin, for the reason that, by the express terms of 
the organic law, the seat of government of the 
Territory was " located temj)orarily at Fort Lea- 
venworth ;" and yet the Governor himself re- 
mained there less" than two months, and of his 
o^^Ti discretion transferred the seat of Govern- 
ment to the Shawnee Mission, where it in fact 
was at the time the Assembly were called to 
meet at I'awnee City. If the (Jovernor had rfny 
such right to change temporarily the seat of Gov- 
ernment, still more had the Lej^islative Assembly. 
The objection is of exceptional origin for the fur- 
ther reason that the place indicated by the Gov- 
ernor, without having an exclusive claim of pre- 
ference in itself, was a proposed town-site only, 
which be and others were attempting to locate 
unlawfully upon land within a military reserva- 
tion, and for participation in which illegal act the 
connnandant of a post, a superior officer of the 
Army, has been dismissed by sentence of court- 
martial. 

Nor is it easy to see why the Legislative Assem- 
bly might not with propriety pass the Territorial 
act ti-ansferriug its sittings to the Shawnee Mis- 
sion. If it could not, that must be on account 
of some prohibitory or incompatible provision of 
act of Congress. IJut no such provisit)n exists. 
The organic act, as already quoted, says " the 
seat of Government is hereby located tempo- 
rarily at Fort Leavenworth ;" and it then pro- 
vides that certain of the public buildings there 
" may be occupied and used under the directioa 
of the Governor and Legislative Assembly." 
These expressions might possibly be construed 
to imply that when, in a previous section of the 
act, it was enacted that " the first Legislative 
Assembly shall meet at such place and on such 
day as the Governor shall appoint," the word 
" place" means place at Fort Leavenworth, not 
place anywhere in the Territory. If so, the Gov- 
ernor would have been the first to err in this mat- 
ter, not only iu himself having removed the seat 
of Government to the Shawnee Mission, but in 
again removing it to I'awnee City. If there was 
any departure from the letter of the law, there- 
fore, it was his in both instances. 

Bui, however this may be, it is most unrca.«on- 
able to suppose that by the terms of the organic 
act. Congress intended to do impliedly what it 
has not done expressly — that is, to forbid to tLe 
Legislative Assembly the power to choose any 
j)lace it might see fit as the temporary seat of its 
deliberations. That is proved by the significant 
language of one of the subsequent acts of Con- 
gress on the subject, that of March 3, 1855, which, 
in making appropriation for public buildings 
of the Territory, enacts that the same shall not 
be expended " until the Legislature of said Ter- 
ritory shall have fixed by law the permanent scat 
of government." Congress, in these expressions, 
does not profess to be granting the power to fix 
the pennanent seat of government, but rccogniaes 
the power as one already granted. But bow? 
Undoubtedly by the comprcheusivc provision of 



92 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



the organic net itself, which declares that " the 
legislative j)ower of the Territory shall extend 
to all rightful suhjects of legislatiou consistent 
with the Constitution of the United States and the 
provisions of this act." If, in view of this act, 
the Legislative Assembly had the large power to 
fix the permanent seat of government at any place 
in its discretion, of course by the same enact- 
ment it had the less and the included power to fix 
it temporarily. 

Nevertheless, the allegation that the acts of the 
Legislative Assembly were illegal by reason of 
this removal of its place of session, was brought 
forward to justify the first great movement in 
disregard of law within the Territory. One of 
the acts of the Legislative Assembly provided 
for the election of a Delegate to the present Con- 
gress, and a Delegate was electea under that 
law. But, subsequently to this, a portion of the 
people of the Territory proceeded, without au- 
thority of law, to elect another Delegate. 

Following upon this movement was another 
and more important one of the same general 
character. Persons coufessedl>; not consfituting 
the body politic, or all the inhabitants, but merely 
a party of the inhabitants, and without law, have 
undertaken to summon a convention for the pur- 
pose of transfoiTning the Territory into a State, 
and have framed a constitution, adopted it, and 
under it elected a Governor and other officers, 
and a representative to Congress. 

In extenuation of these illegal acts, it is alleged 
that the State of California, Michigan, and others, 
were self-organized, and as such were admitted 
into the Union, without a previous enabling act 
of Congress. It is true that, while in a majority 
of cases a previous act of Congress has been pass- 
ed to authorize the Territory to present itself as a 
State, and that this is deemed the most regular 
course, yet such an act has not been held to be 
indispensable, and in some cases the Territory has 
proceeded without it, and has nevertheless been 
admitted into the Union as a State. It lies with 
Congress to authorize beforehand, or to confirm 
afterward, in its discretion ; but in no instance 
has a State been admitted upon the application 
of persons acting against authorities duly consti- 
tuted by act of Congress. In every case it is the 
people of the Territory, not a party among them, 
who have the power to form a constitution and 
ask for admission as a State. No principle of 
public law, no practice or precedent under the 
Constitution of the United States, no rule of rea- 
son, right, or common sense, confers any such 
power as that now claimed by a mere party in 
the Territory. In ftict, what has been done is of 
revolutionary character. It is avowedly so in mo- 
tive and in ami as respects the local law of the Ter- 
ritory. It will become treasonable insurrection 
if it reac-h the length of organized resistance by 
force to the fundamental or any other federal law, 
and to the authority of the General Government. 

In such an event, the path of duty for the Exe- 
cutive is plain. The Constitution requiring him 
to take care that the laws of the United States be 
faithfully executed, if they be opposed in the 
Territory of Kansas, he may and should place at 
the disposal of the marshal any public force of 
the United States which happens to be within 
the jurisdiction, to be used as a portion of the 
posse comitatus ; and, if that do not suffice to 
maintain order, then he may call forth tlie militia 
of one or more States for that object, or employ 
for the same object any part of the land or naval 
force of the United States. So also if the ob- 
Btruction be to the laws of the Territory, and it 
be duly presented to him as a case of insurrec- 
tion, he may employ for its suj)pression the mili- 
tia of any State, or the land or naval force of the 
United States. And if the Territory he invaded 
by Die citizous of other States, whether for the 



purpose of deciding elections or for any other, 
and the local authorities find themselves unable 
to repel or withstand it, they will be entitled to, 
and upon the fact being fully ascertained, they 
shall most certainly receive, the aid of the Gener- 
al Government. 

l?ut it is not the duty of the President of the 
United States to volunteer interposition by force 
to preserve the purity of elections either in a State 
or Territory. To do so would be subversive of 
public freedom. And whether a law be wise or 
unwise, just or unjust, is not a question for him 
to judge. If it be constitutional — that is, if it 
be the law of the laud — it is bis duty to cause it 
to be executed, or to sustain the authorities of 
any State or Territory in executing it in opposi- 
tion to all insurrectionary movements. 

Our system affords no justification of revolu- 
tionary acts ; for the constitutional means of re- 
lieving the people of unjust administration and 
laws, by a change of public agents and by re- 
peal, are ample, and more prompt and effective 
than illegal violence. These constitutio^ial means 
must be scrupulously guarded— ^thts great pre- 
rogative of popular sovereignty sacredly respect- 
ed. \ 

It is the undoubted right of the peaceable atid 
orderly people of the Territory of Kansas to el^t 
their own legislative body, make their own law^, 
and regulate their own social institutions, without 
foreign or domestic molestation. Interference, on 
the one hand, to procure the abolition or prohii 
bition of slave-labor in the Territory, has proJ 
duced mischievous interference on the other ioi 
its maintenance or introduction. One wrong be- 
gets another. Statements entirely unfounded Or 
grossly exaggerated, concerning events within 
the Territory, are sedulously difl'used through re- 
mote States to feed the flame of sectional ani- 
mosity there ; and the agitators there exert them- 
selves indefatigably in return tq^^eacburage and 
stimulate strife within the T^enttory, 

The inflammatory agitation, of which the pres- 
entis but apart, has for twenty years produced no- 
thing save unmitigated evil, Nortlr and South. 
But for it the character of the domestic institu- 
tions of the future new State would have been a 
matter of too little interest to the inhabitants of 
the contiguous States, personal or collectively, to 
produce among them any political emotion. 
Climate, soil, production, hopes of rapid ad- 
vancement, and the pursuit of happiness on the 
part of settlers themselves, with good wishes but 
with no interference from without, would have 
quietly determincMi the question which is at this 
time of such disturbing character. 

But we are constrained to turn our attention to 
the circumstances of embarrassment as they now 
exist. It is the duty of the people of Kansas to 
discountenance every act or purpose of resist- 
ance to its laws. Above all, the emergency ap- 
peals to the citizens of the States and especially 
of those contiguous to the Territory, neither by 
intervention of non-residents in elections, nor by 
unauthorized military force, to attempt to en- 
croach upon or usurp the authority of the in- 
habitants of the Territory. 

No citizen of our country should permit himself 
to forget that he is a part of its government, and 
entilled to be heard in the determination of its 
policy and its measures ; and that, therefore, the 
highest considerations of personal honor and 
patriotism require him to maintain, by whatever 
of power or influence he may possess, the integ- 
rity of the laws of the Republic. 

Entertaining these views, it will be my impera- 
tive duty to exert the whole power of the Federal 
Executive to support public order in the Territo- 
ry ; to vindicate its laws, whether Fediral or 
local, against all attempts of organized resistance ; 
and so to protect its people in the establishment 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



93 



oftheir own institutionH, undisturbed b^ encroach- 
ment from witlimil, und in ttio full enjoyment nf 
the rif,'lit.s of solf ;,'(>vornmciit afHiirt'il ti> llifni by 
ILo ConstituliiMi and tlie i>r;;anic act of (NmtiiVKS. 

Altli()U<,'h serious and Ihicatcninj,' dinturbanccM 
in the Teniloi y of Kansas, announced to me by 
tLe(;overnor,'in Deceniber last, were speedily 
quieted without the etfudion of blood, and in n 
Biilisfactory manner, there is, I regret to say, rea- 
son to niiprchend that disorders will continue to 
occur there, with increasing tendency to violence, 
until some decisive measures be taken to dispose 
of the (luestion itself which constitutes the in- 
ducement or occasion of internal agitation and 
of external interference. 

This, it seems to mo, can best be accomidishcd 
by providin)^ that, when the inhabitants of Kan- 
sas nniy desire it, and shall be of sntTicient num- 
bers to constitute a State, a conventiitn of dele- 
gates, duly elected by the r|ualificd voters, shall 
assemble to frame a Constitution, and thus to 
prei)arc, throujih rej^ular and lawful means, for 
its admission into the Union as a State. I re- 
spectfully recommend the cnactmeut of a law to 
that etlect. 

I reconunend, also, that a special appropriation 
bo made to defray any ex])ensc whicli may be- 
come requisite in the e.\cculion of the laws or the 
mainteuauce of public order in the Territory of 
Kansas. Franklin Pierce. 

March 12//j.— In Senate, Mr. Douglas of 
Illinois, from the Committee on Territories, 
made the following 

REPORT : 
The Committee on Territories, to whom was re- 
ferred so much of the annual message of the 
President of the United States as relates to ter- 
ritorial atfairs, together with his special message 
of the 24th day of January, 185G, in regard to 
Kansas Territorj-, and his message of the 18th 
of February, in compliance with the resolution 
of the Senate of the 4th of February, 1856, re- 
questing transcripts of certain papers relative 
to the affairs of the Territory of Kansas, having 
given the same that serious and mature delibe- 
i ration which the importance of the subject de- 
\ mands, beg leave to submit the following re- 
port : 

Your Committee deem this an appropriate oc- 
casion to state briefly, but distinctly, the princi- 
ples upon wliich new States may be admitted and 
Territories organized under the authority of the 
Constitution of the United States. 

The Con.stitution (section 3, article 4) provides 
that " new States may be admitted by the Con- 
gress into this Union." 

Section 8, Article 1 : " Congress shall have 
power to make all laws which shall be necessary 
and proper for carrying into execution the fore- 
going powers, an<l all other powers vested by tliis 
constitution in the government of the United 
State.*, or in any depariment or oftice thereof" 

10th amendnient : " The powers not delegated 
to the United States by the Constitution, nor pro- 
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
States respectively, or to the people." 

A State of the Federal Union is a sovereign 
power, limited only by the Constitution of the 
United States. 

The limitations which that instrument has im- 
posed are few, specific, and uniform — applicable 
alike to all the States, old and new. There is no 
authority for putting a restriction upon the sove- 



reignly of a new State, which tho Conatitu- 
tioii liMM not jilaced on tho original States. In- 
deed, if such a restriction could be imposed on 
any Stiile, it would iiiittanily cease to he a State 
within the meaning of tin; F«'ileral (.'onslilution, 
and, in iiinsetiuence of the ine(|uidity, would as- 
similate to the condition of a province or depend- 
ency. Hence, eiiuality among all the States of 
the Union is a fundamental jirinciple in our fede- 
rative system — a i)rinciplo embodied in tho Con- 
stitution, as tho basis upon which tho American 
Union rests. 

African Slavery existed in all tho ccdonies, un- 
der the sanction of (he liritisli government, prior 
to the Dcciuiiitiini of Indeiiendeiice. When the 
Constitution of the United Stales was adopted, it 
became tho supreme law and bond of uinon bo- 
twe<-n twelve slaveholding Slates and (uio non- 
slavehidding State. Each State reserved the 
right todeci<lothe question of Slavery for itself — 
to continue it as a domestic institution so longaa 
it pleased, and to abolish it when it chose. 

In pnisnanco of this reserved right, six of tho 
original slaveholding States have since abolish- 
ed and [jrohibiled Slavery within their limits re- 
spectively, without consulting Congress or their 
sister States ; while tho other six have retained 
and sustained it as a domestic institution, which, 
in their opinion, had become so firmly engrafted 
on their social systems, that the relation between 
the master and slave could not be dissolved 
with safely to either. In tho mean time, eighteen 
new States have been admitted into the Union, 
in obedience to the Federal Constitution, on an 
equal footing with the original States, including, 
of course, the right of each to decide the (juestiou 
of Slavery for itself In deciding this question, 
it has so lijippened tliat nine of these new States 
have abolished and prohibited Slavery, while the 
other nine have retained and regulated it. That 
the.se new States had at tho time of their admis- 
sion, and still retain, an equal right, under the 
Federal Constitution, with tho original States, to 
decide all questions of domestic policy for them- 
selves, including that of African Slavery, ought 
not to be seriously <iuostioncd, and certaitdy can- 
not be succosslully controverted. 

They are all subject to the same supremo 
law, which, by the consent of each, constitutes 
the only limitation upon their sovereign author- 
ity- 

Since we find the right to admit new States 
enumerated among the powers expressly dele- 
gated in the Constitution, the question arises, 
Whence does Congress derive authority to 
organize temporary governments for the Terri- 
tories preparatory to their admission into tho 
Union on an equal footing with the original 
States ? Your Committee are not prepared to 
adopt the reasoning which deduces the power 
from that other clause of the Constitution, which 
says : 

" Congress shall have power to dispose of and 
make all needful rules and regulation respecting 
the territory or other property belonging to the 
United States." 

The language of this clause is much more ap- 
propriate when applied to property than to per- 
sons. It would seem to have been employed for 
the purpose of conferring upon Congress the pow- 
er of disposing of the public lands and other 
property bvlousrinix to the United Statcx, and 
to make all needful rules and regulations for that 
purpose, rather than to govern the people who 
might j)urchase those lands from the United 
States and become residents thereon. The word 
"territory" was an appropriate expression to 
designate that large oroa of public lands of which 
tho L'nited States had become the owner by vir- 
tue of the revolution and the cession by tho 
several States. Tho additional words, " or other 



u 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



r, 



Toperty Ijelonging to the United States," clenr- 
y elioTT that the term " ten-itory" was used in 
its ordinary ffcograijhical sense to designate the 
public domain, and not as descriptive of the 
whole body of the people, constituting a distinct 
political cdinmunity, who have no rejtrcsentatiou 
ni Conjrress, and consequently no voice in mak- 
ing the laws upon which all then" riRlits and liber- 
ties would depend, if it were conceded that Con- 
gress had the general and unlimited power to 
make all " needful rules and reirulations con- 
cerning" their internal affairs and domestic con- 
cerns. It is under this clause of the constitu- 
tion, and from this alone, that Congress derives 
authority to provide for the surveys of the pub- 
lic lands, for securing pre-emption rights to actual 
settlers, for the establishment of land offices in 
the several States and Territories, for exposing 
the lands to private and public sale, for issuing 
patents and confirmiug titles, and, in short, for 
making all needful rules and regulations for pro- 
tecting and disposing of the public domain and 
other property belonging to the United States. 

These needful rules and regulations may be 
embraced, and usually are found, in general laws 
applicable alike to States and Territories, wher- 
ever the United States may be the owner of the 
lands or other property to be regulated or dis- 
posed of. It can make no difference, under this 
clause of the Constitution, whether the " territory, 
or other property, belougintj to the United 
States," shall be situated in Ohio or Kansas, in 
Alabama or Minnesota, in California or Oregon. 
The power of Congress to make needful rules 
and regulations is the same in the States and 
Territories, to the extent that the title is vested 
in the United States. Inasmuch as the right of 
legislation in such cases rests exclusively upon 
the fact of ownership, it is obvious it can extend 
only to the tracts of land to which the United 
States possess the title, and must cease in respect 
to each tract the instant it becomes private pi-op- 
erty by purchase from the United States. It will 
scarcely be contended that Congress possesses 
the power to legislate for the people of those 
States in which public lauds may be located, in 
respect to their internal affairs and domestic con- 
cerns, merely because the United States may be 
so fortunate as to own a portion of the territory 
and other property within the limits of those 
States. Yet it should be borne in mind that this 
clause of the Constitution confers upon Congress 
the same power (o make needful rules and regu- 
lations in the States as it does in the Territories, 
concerning the territory or other property belong- 
ing to the United States. 

In view of these considerations, your Commit- 
tee are not prepared to affirm that Congress de- 
rives authority to institute governments for the 
people of the Territories, from that clause of the 
Constitution which confers the right to make 
needful rules and regulations concerning the ter- 
ritory or other property belonging to the United 
States ; mucli less can we deduce the power from 
any supposed necessity, arising outside of the 
Constitution and not provided for iu that instru- 
ment. The federal government is one of dele- 
{j'uted and limited powers, clothed with no right- 
lul authority which does not result directly and 
necessarily from the Constitution. Necessity, 
when experience shall have clearly demonsti-ated 
its existence, may furnish satisfactory reasons 
for enlarging the authority of the federal govern- 
ment, by aun-ndments to the Constitution, in the 
mode prescribed ui the instruiuent ; but cannot 
afford the slightest excuse for the assumption of 
powers not delegated, and which, by the tenth 
amendment, are expressly " reserved to tho 
States respectively, or to the people." Hence, 



before the po>\er can bo safely exorcised, the 
CJongress to organize Territories, by in- 



right of Coni 



stituting temporary governments, must be traced 
directly to some provision of the Constitution 
conferring the authority iu express terms, or as a 
means necessary and proper to carry into effect 
some one or more of the powers which are speci- 
fically delegated. Is not the organization of a, 
Territory eminently necessary and proper as a 
means of enabling the people thereof to form and 
mould their local and domestic institutions, and 
establish a Stale government under the authority 
of the Constitution, preparatory to its admission 
into the Union ? If so, the right of Congress to 
pass the organic act for the temporary govern- 
ment is clearly included in the provision which 
authorizes the admission of new States. This 
power, however, beiiicr an incident to an express 
grant, and resulting from it by necessary impli- 
cation, as an appropriate means for carrying it 
into effect, must be e.\ercised in harmony with 
the nature and objects of the grant from which it 
is deduced. The organic act of the Tc^rritory, 
deriving its validity from the power of Congress 
to admit new States, must contain no provision 
or restriction which would destroy or impair tho 
equality of the proposed State with the original 
States, or impose any limitation upon its eovo- 
reignty which the Constitution has not placed 
on all the States. So far as the organization of a 
Territory may be necessary and proper as a 
means of carrying into effect the provision of the 
Constitution for the admission of new States, and 
when exercised with reference only to that end, 
the power of Congress is clear ami explicit ; but 
beyond that point the authority cannot extend, 
for the reason that all " powers not delegated to 
the United States by the Constitution, nor pro- 
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to tho 
States respectively, or to the people." In other 
words, the organic act of the Territory, conform- 
ing to the spirit of the grant from which it re- 
ceives its validity, must leave the people entirely 
free to form and regulate their domestic institu- 
tions and internal concerns in their own way, 
subject only to the Constitution* of the United 
States, to the end that when they attain the 
requisite population, and establish a State gov- 
ernment in conformity to the Federal Constitu- 
tion, they may be admitted into the Union on an 
equal footing with the original States in all re- 
spects whatsoever. 

The act of Congress for the organization of the 
Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, was design- 
ed to conform to the spirit and letter of the Fede- 
ral Constitution, by preserving and maintaining 
the fundamental principle of equality among all 
the States of the Union, notwithstanding the re- 
striction contained in the 8th section of the act of 
March 6, 1820, (preparatory to the admission of 
Missouri into the Union,) which assumed to deny 
to the people forever the right to settlethe ques- 
tion of Slavery for themselves, provided they 
should make their homes and organize States 
north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes 
north latitude. Conforming to the cardinal prin- 
ciples of State equality and self-government, in 
obedience to the Constitution, the Kansas-Ne- 
braska act deekired, in the precise language of 
the Compromise Measures of 1850, that, " when 
admitted as a State, the said Territory, or any 
portion of the same, shall be received into the 
Union, with or without Slavery, as their consti- 
tutions may prescribe at the time of their admis- 
sion." Again, after declaring the said 8th section 
of the Missouri act (sometimes called theMis- i 
souri Compromise, or Missouri Restriction) inop- i 
erative and void as being repugnant to these ' 
principles, the purpose of Congress, in passing' 
the act, is declared in these words: "It being 
the true intent and meaning of this act not to 
legislate Slavery into any State or Territory, nor 
to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people 



TUE KANSAS-NEBR.VSKA STRUGGLE. 



96 



thereof perfortly free to form niid rcffukto llicir 
domestic iiislitulionN in lluir own way, suhjecl 
only to the (."niiHtitiilion ofilie riiileil Statt^'M.' 

The p«HrtU;;o of the Kaiixas NilnnHkn aet was 
Btreiiuously resisted by all jiersons who thiniKht 
it a less evil to deprive tlie iieoplo of luw States 
and Territories of the ri^dit of State eciuality and 
Pch'L'iivt-nniuuif under tiie Conslitution, than ti> 
nllow iIkmii to deeido the Shivery <iuesti<>n for 
tlieniselves, as every Slate of the Union had 
done, and must retain tlie undeniable ri'dit to 
do, so lont; as tlie Constitution of the t*iiited 
Slates shall be maintained as the sui)rcnie law 
of the land. Findin^' opposition to the principles 
of Ihi' aet unavailin;; in the halls of Con^^riss 
and under tho forms of the Constitution, com- 
binations wore immediately entered info in some 
portions of the Union to control the political 
destinies, and t'orm and rej^ulate the (htniestie 
institutions, of those Territories and future 
States, throuich the machinery of cmi;;rant aid 
Bocicties. In order to i^ivc consistency and efli- 
ciency to the movement, and surround it with 
the color of legal authority, lui act of incorpora- 
tion was i>rocured from the lc;;islature ot the 
State of Massachusetts, in which it was provid- 
ed, in the first section, that twenty persons there- 
in named, and their " asaociatcs, successors, and 
assigns, are hereby made a corporation, by the 
name of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Com- 
pany, for tho purpose of assisting emigrants to 
settle in the West ; and for this purpose they 
ehall have all tho poivera and privileges, and be 
subject to all the duties, restrictions, and liabili- 
ties set forth in the 38th and -llih chapters of the 
revised statutes" of Massachusetts. 

The second section limited the capital stock of 
the company to five millions of dollars, and au- 
thorized the whole to be invested in real and per- 
sonal estate, with the proviso that " the said cor- 
poration shall niit hold real estate in this com- 
monwealth (Massachusetts) to an amount ex- 
ceeding twenty thousand dollai-s." 

The third section provided for dividing the 
capital stock <d" the corporation into shares of 
one hundred dollars each, and prescribed the 
mode, time, and amounts in which assessments 
might be made on each share. 

The fourth and lust section was in these 
words : 

"At all meetings of the stockholders, each 
stockholder shall bo entitled to cast one vote for 
each share held by him ; pruciiled, that no stock- 
holder shall be entitled to east more than fifty 
votes on shares held by liimself, nor more than 
fifty votes by proxy." 

Although the act of incorporation docs not dis- 
tinctly declare that the company was fonned for 
the purpose of controlling the domestic institu- 
tions of tho Territory of Kansas, and forcing it 
into the Union with a prohibition of Slavery in 
her constitution, regardless of the rights and 
■wishes of the ])eople as guarantied by the Consti- 
tution of tho United States, and secured by their 
organic law, yet the whole history of the move- 
ment, the circumstances in which it had its origin, 
and the professions and avowals of all engaged 
in it, render it certain and undeniable that such 
was its object. 

To remove all doubt upon this point, your 
committee will here present a few extracts from 
a pamphlet published by the company soon 
after its organization, under tho foUowiug cap- 
tion : 

" Organization, objects, and plan of operations of 
the Emigrant Aid Cumpany; also, a description of 
Kansas, lor the information of emigrants. 

'■ Truslcs—Km'-A A. Lawrpnce, Huston ; J. M. S. 
Wiliiains. C;uul)riilgo ; l.ly Thayer, Worcester. 

" Trecuurcr. Amos A Lawreuce. 

" Secretary, Thomas H. Webb, Boston. 



" For the purpostt of answering nnmrrons commnni- 
CBtlunH ciincernin'^ ths plan of operation* of the Emi- 
gritnt Aid CompiiTiy, and the r--8uurci'ii of Kansas Tor- 
rltiiry. which it in proposed now to settle, the secre- 
tary (if Iho cniiipiiiiy has deomi-d It expedient to 
|)ul)li.'<li tlio fiillowiiig deliuitu information in regard 
to lliis larticulur: » • • • 

"For tlHse piiriiogrH it In recnmmendod. 1st. That 
the trnstei-s contract Immediafi-ly witli tinnie one of 
till- couipetlei|{ linc^ of travel for tlie coiiveyanco of 
20,000 persons from Massiclnisetts to tliat place in 
thi' West which the trustees sliall select for their flt«t 
settlement." * ♦ • » • 

"It i.i reoonunond''d that the company's agents 
locate and take up for the cunpany's honellt, the sec- 
tions of laud in which the hoardintf-houMcs ami mills 
ate located, and no others. And further, whuuerer 
the Ti-rntorv shall be org^nizfd an a free State, the 
trustees shall dispose of all its interests thern. replace 
by the sales tho money laid out, declare a dividend to 
tho stockliolilcrs, and that they then select a now 
Hold, and make similar arrangementK for the settle- 
ment and organisation of another free State of this 
Union." » ♦ # ♦ 

" With the advantage."! attained by such a system of 
effort, the territory selected as the scene of operations 
would, it is believed, be filled up witli free inhabit- 
ants. ♦ # ♦ » # 

■' There is reason to suppose several ttiousand men 
of New-England origin propose to emigrate under the 
auspices of some such arrangement, this very i>um- 
nier. Of the whole emigration from Europe, amount- 
ing to .some 400,000 persons, there can lie no difllculty 
in inducing some thirty or forty thousand to take the 
same direction." » ♦ ♦ 

" Especially will it prove an advantage to Massa- 
chusetts, if she create the new ."^tate by her fure.sight, 
Bup(dy the necessities of its inhabitants, and open in 
the outset communications between their homes and 
her ports and factories." * * ♦ 

" ft determines in the riifht way the institutions of 
the unsettled Territories, in less time than the dis- 
cussion of them has required in Congress." 

Ilavitig thus secured from the Stale of Mas-^a- 
chusctts the color of legal authority ti> sanction 
their proceedings, in perversion of the jilnin pro- 
visions of an aet of Congress passed in pursuance 
of the Constitution, the company conniienced itg 
oi)crations by receiving subscriidions to its capi- 
tal stock, aii"d exerting its whole power to har- 
monize, combine, and direct, in the clmniiel it 
.slniuld mark out, all the elements of opposition 
to (he principles of the Kansas and Nebr,i.-<ka act. 
The iilaii adopted was to make it the interest of 
a large body of men, who sympathized with them 
in the objects of the corporation, to receive their 
aid and protection, and, under the auspices of the 
company, to proceed to Kanstts, and acquire 
whtitever residence, and do whatever acts, might 
be found necessary to enable them to vote at the 
elections, and through the ballot-box, if possible, 
to gain control over the legislation of the Terri- 
tory. This movement is justified by thi>se who 
originated and control the plan, upon the ground 
that the persons whom they sent to Kansas were 
free men, who, under the Constitution and laws, 
had a perfect right to emigrate to Kansas or any 
other Territory; that tho act of emigration was 
entirely voluntary on their part ; and when fliey 
arrived in the Territory as actual settlers, they 
had as good a right as any other citizens to vote 
at the elections, and participate in the control of 
the government of the Territory. This would 
undoubtedly be true in a case of ordinary emi- 
gration, such as luus filled up our new States and 
Territories, where each individual has gone, on 
his own account, to improve his condition and 
that of his family. But it is a very difTerent thing 
where a State creates a vast moneyed coriioration 
for the purpose of controlling the domestic insti- 
tutions of a distinct political community fifteen 
hundred miles distant, and sends out the emi 
grants only as a means of nccomi)lishing its 
paramount" politi.al <dijcets. When a powcrfid 
corporation, with a capital of five millions of 
dollars invested in houses and lands, in merchau- 



96 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



dise and mills, in cannon and rifles, in powder 
and lead — in all tlie implements of art, ag-ricul- 
ture, and war, and employing a correspondinsr 
number of men, all under the manaLjement and 
control of non-resident directors and stockholders, 
who are authorized by their charter to vote by 
proxy to the extent of fifty votes each, enters a 
distant and sparsely settled Territory with the 
fixed purpose of wielding all its power to control 
the domestic institutions and political destinies 
of the Territory, it becomes a question of fearful 
import, how far the operations of the company 
are compatible with the rights and liberties of the 
people. Whatever may be the extent or limit of 
congressional authority over the Territories, it is 
clear that no individual State has the right to 
pass any law or authorize any act concerning or 
afi'ecting the Territories, which it might not enact 
in reference to any other State. 

If the people of any State should become so 
much enamored with their own peculiar institu- 
tions as to conceive the philanthropic scheme of 
forcing so great a blessing on their unwilling 
neighbors, and with that view should create a 
mammoth moneyed corporation, for the avowed 
purpose of sending a sufiioient number of their 
young men into the neighboring State, to remain 
long enough to acquire the right of voting, with 
the fixed and [laraniount object of reversing the 
settled piilicy and chanfrintj the domestic institu- 
tions ot such State, wiiuld it not be deemed an 
act of aggression, as offensive and flagrant as if 
attempted by direct and open violence ? It is a 
well-settled principle of constitutional law, in this 
country, that while all the States of the Union are 
united in one, for certain purposes, yet each State, 
in respect to everything which affects its domestic 
policy and internal concerns, stands in the I'ela- 
tion of a foreign power to every other State. 

Hence, no State has a right to pass any law, or 
do or authorize any act, with the view to influ- 
ence or change the domestic policy of any other 
State or Territory of the Union, more than it 
would with reference to France or England, or 
any other foreign State with which we are at 
peace. Indeed, every State of this Union is under 
higher obligations to observe a friendly forbear- 
ance and generous comity towards each other 
member of the Confederacy, than the laws of 
nations can impose on foreign States. While 
foreign States are restrained from all acts of ag- 
gression and unkindness only by that spirit of 
comity which the laws of nations enjoin upon all 
friendly powers, we have assumed the additional 
obligation to obey the Constitution, which secures 
to every State the right to control its own internal 
afi'airs. If repugnance to domestic Slavery can 
justify Massachusetts in incorporating a mam- 
moth company to influence and control that 
question in any State or Territory of this Union, 
the same principle of action would authorize 
France or England to use the same means to ac- 
complish the same end in Brazil or Cuba, or in 
fifteen States of this Union ; while it would license 
the United States to interfere with serfdom in 
Russia, or polygamy in Turkey, or any other ob- 
noxious institution in any part of the world. 
The same principle of action, when sanctioned 
by our example, would authorize all the king- 
doms, and empires, and despotisms in the world, 
to engage in a common crusade against republic- 
anism in America, as an institution quite as ob- 
noxious to them as domestic Slavery is to any 
portion of the people of the United States. 

If our obligations arising under the laws of 
nations are so imperative as to make it our duty 
to enact neutrality laws, and to exert the whole 
power and authority of the executive branch of 
the governniont, including tlie army and navy, 
to enforce them, in restraining our citizens from 
interfering with the internal concerns of foreign 



States, can the obligations of each State and 
Territory of this Union be less imperative, under 
the Federal Con.^titution. to observe entire neu- 
trality in respect to the domestic in.^titutions of 
the several States and Territories ? Non-interfer- 
ence with the internal concerns of other States is 
recognized by all civilized countries as a funda- 
mental principle of the laws of nations, for the 
reason that the peace of the world could not be 
maintained for a single day without it. IIow, then, 
can we hope to ])ioscrve peace and fraternal feel- 
ings among the diflVrenl portions of this republic, 
unless we yield implicit obedience to a prmciple 
which has all the sanction of patriotic duty as 
well as constitutional obligation? 

When the emigrants sent out by the Massa- 
chusetts Emigrant Aid Company, and their affili- 
ated societies, passed through the State of Mis- 
souri in large numbers on their way to Kansas, 
the violence of their language, and the unmis 
takable indicatiims of their determined hostility 
to the domestic institutions of that State, created 
apprehensions that the object of theciunpany was 
to abolitionize Kansas as a means of prosecuting 
a relentless warefare upon the institutions of 
Slavery within the limits of Missouri. These ap- 
prehensions increased and spread with the pro- 
gress of events, until they became the settled con- 
victions of the people of that portion of the State 
most exposed to the danger by their proximity 
to the Kansas border. The natural consequence 
was, that immediate steps were taken by the peo- 
ple of the western counties.of Missouri to stimu- 
late, organize, and carry into efiect a system of 
emigration similar to that of the Massachusetts 
Emigrant Aid Company, for the avowed pur- 
pose of counteracting the effects, and protecting 
themselves and their domestic institutions from 
the consequences of that company's operations. 

The material difference in the character of the 
two rival and conflicting movements consists in 
the fact that the one had its origin in an aggres- 
sive, and the other in a defensive policy. The 
one was organized in pursuance of the pro- 
visions and claiming to act under the authority 
of a legislative enactment of a distant Stale, whose 
internal prosperity and domestic security did not 
depend upon the success of the movement , 
while the other was the spontaneous action of 
the people living in the immediate vicinity of 
the theatre of operations, excited by a sense of 
common danger to the necessity of protecting 
their own firesides from the apprehended horrors 
of servile insurrection and intestine war. Both 
parties, conceiving it to be essential to the success 
of their respective" plans that they should be upon 
the field of operations prior to the first election in 
the Territory, selected principally young men, 
persons unencumbered by families, and whose 
conditions in life enabled them to leave at a mo- 
ment's warning, and move with great celeritjr, 
to go at once, and select and occupy the most eli- 
gible sites and l^ivored locations in the Territory, 
to be held by themselves and their associates who 
should follow them. For the successful prosecu- 
tion of such a scheme, the Missourians who lived 
in the immediate vicinity, possessed peculiar ad- 
vantages over their rivals from the more remote 
portions of the Union. Each family could send 
one of its members across the line to mark out 
his claim, erect a cabin, and put in a small crop, 
sufficient to give him as vidida right to be deem- 
ed an actual settler and qualified voter as those 
who were being imported by the Enugrant Aid 
Societies. In an unoccupied Territory, where 
the lands have not been surveyed, and where 
there were no marks or lines to indicate the 
boundaries of sections and quarter-sections, and 
where no legal title could be had until after llie 
surveys should be made, disputes, quarrels, vio- 
lence,'' and bloodshed might have been expected as 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



97 



llicnntunil.indinovitnblofoiiKeriuonccBofguchcx- 
tniorilinary systems nf iiniy:niluin, wliii-li ilividod 
and nrriiycd "tlic nctllcTB into two f,'ri'at IicikIiIo 
piirfit'f, onoli litiviiin iiii induceiiu'iit to clniin mom 
thnn wasliis iif,'lit, in order to liold it for soiiio 
now comer of liis own imrty, und iit the sumo 
time prevent permins belonging to the opposite 
piirtv from settlint; in tlio iiciKl'borhood. Ab a 
result of this state of tliiiiKS, tlie Kreiit, mnss of 
emi^rranls from the northwest and from other 
Stales wlio wont there on liieir own neeoiint, 
with no otlier objoet and infliionco, by no other 
motives llian to improve llioir eoiiditiou and so- 
euro t;>"'d homes for tlieir families, were ct)mpel- 
lod to array themselves under the banner of one 
of those hostile parties, in order to insure protec- 
tion to thouiselvca and tlieir claims against the af;- 
grossions and violence of the other. 

At Ihelirst cleetion hohl in the Territory, on 
the'J9ili day of Novendior, 1S5J, for a delegate 
to Congres's, J. W. \Vhilli<'I(l was chosen by an 
overwhelming,'- majority, having received tho 
votes of men of all parties who wore in favor of 
the principles of tho Kansas-Nebraska act, and 
opposed to placing tho political destinies of tho 
IVrritory in tho keeping of the Abidition party 
of tho northern States, to bo managed through 
tho machinery of their emigrant Aid Compa- 
nies. No sooner was tlie result of the election 
known, than the defeated party proclaimed 
throughout the length and breadih of the repub- 
lic, that it had been proiluced by the invasion of 
tJio Territory by a Missouri nmb, which had over- 
awed and outnumbered and outvoted the Luna 
fide settlers of the Territory. By reference to 
tho executive journal of tho Territory, which 
will be found in the papers furnished by the 
President of the Unitoil Slates in response to a 
call of the Senate, it will bo found that Governor 
Eeeder, in obedience to what he considered to be 
a duty enjoined on him by the act of Congress or- 
ganizing the Territory, on the 10th day of Novem- 
ber, 1854, issued a proclamation, prescribing the 
time, place, and niorlo of liolding tho election, and 
appointing by name tliree citizens of the Territory, 
residing in each election district, to conduct the 
election, in FUch district, together with the follow- 
ing oath, which was tak(;n by the judges before 
entering on their duties, to wit : 

"We do severally swear that wo will perform our 
duties as judges of the election, to beheld this day, 

in the district of the Territory of Kansas, to 

the best of our judjrment and ability ; that we will 
keep a correct and fdithful record or list of persons 
who shall vote at said election; that wo will poll no 
ticke's from any person who is not an actual bona fide 
resident and inhabitant of said Territory on the day 
of election, and whom wc shall not honestly believe to 
be a qualified voter according to the act of Congress 
organizing said Territory ; that wewill reject the votes 
of nil and every non-resident who:n we shall believe 
to have ci>me into the Territory f(jr the mere purpose 
of voting; that in all cases where we are ignorant of 
the voter's ri^ht, we will require legal evidence 
thereof, by his own oath or otherwise ; that we will 
makca true and faithlul return of the votes which 
shall be polled to the governor of the said Terri- 
tory." 

The same proclamation pointed out in detail 
the mode in which the election should be conduct- 
ed ; and, among other things, that the polls will 
be opened for reception of votes between eight 
and ten o'clock, a. m., and kept open continually 
until si.x o'clock, p. m. ; that the judges will keep 
two corresponding list.s of persons who sholl vote, 
numbering each name : that when a dispute 
arises as to the qualitications of a voter, thejudgea 
shall examine the voter or any other persons, un- 
der oatii, upon the subject, and the decision of 
a majority of tho board will be conclusive; that 
when the election shall close, the judges shall 
open and count the votes, and keep two corre- 
7 



snonding tally liHtB, and if llic tally-liflfs sliall agree, 
tne judnes sliall then publicly jiroelnim the result, 
and shall nnike up and sign duiilii'ate eerlificatcB 
in tho form iirescrilx-d ; niiil sliall certify, under 
their oaths, that Ihe certificato is a true and cor- 
rect return of tlie votes [lolled by lawful resident 
voters. 

The iiroclamation also provides that the tickets 
or votes polled shall, after beiii;; counlc<l, bo 
again deiiositcd in the bo.\, togother with ono 
copy of the oath, and ono list of llio voters, and 
Olio tally list, and ono certificate of return: and 
that the judges shall seal them up in the bo.x,and 
carefully preserve the same until called for by 
the governor of said Territory, in tin; event of 
its correctness being coutosted : and that the re- 
maining cojiy fif the oath, list of voti-rs, tally list, 
and return, will be taken by one of the judges, 
who shall deliver the same in person to the gov- 
ernor. 

The proclamation also provides that, " In case 
any jierson or persons shall dispute Ihe fairness 
or correctness of tho return of any electiondis- 
trict, they shall make a written slatenient, direct- 
ed to the governor, and setting forth the specific 
cause of complaint or errors in tho conducting or 
returning of the election in said district, signed 
by not less than ten qualitiod voters of the Terri- 
tory, and with an aflidavit of one or more quali- 
fied voters to the truth of the fact therein stated ; 
and tho said complaint and aflidavit shall be 
presented to the governor on or before the fourth 
day of December ne.xt, when the proper proceed- 
ings will be taken to hear and decide such com- 
plaint." 

By reference to the executive journal of the 
Territory, we find the following entry : 

" Dectmber 4, 1854.— The judgeg of the several elec- 
tion distiicts made return of the votes polled at tho 
election held on the 29th day of November last, for a 
dclegatt* to the IIou^e of Representatives of the United 
States; from which it appeared that tho votes in the 
said several districts were as follows, to wit :" 

Here follows a list of the votes cast for each 
candidate in each of the seventeen districts of the 
Territorv, showing that 

J. W. Whitfield had received Sji.^iS votes. 

All other persons received 575 " 

And on the same page is tho following entry : 

"December 5, 1854. — On examining and collating 
tho returns. J. W. Whitfield is declared by th*- govern- 
or to be duly elected delegate to the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States, and the same day the 
certificate of the governor, under the seal of the 
Territory, issued to said J. W. Whitfield of his elec- 
tion." 

It nowhere appears that Gen. Whitfield's right 
to a seat by virtue of that election was ever con- 
tested. It does not appear that " ten qualified 
voters of the Territory" were ever found who 
were willing to make the " written statement di- 
rected to the ijoveriior, with an allidavit" of one 
or more qualified voters to tho " truth of the facts 
therein stated," to " dispute the fairness or cor- 
rectness of the returns," or to " set forth specific 
cause of complaint or errors in the conducting or 
returning of the election," in any one of tho sev- 
enteen districts of the Territory. Certain it is, 
that there could not have been a system of fraud 
and violence such as has been charged by the 
agents and sujiporters of the emigrant aid socie- 
ties, unless tho governor and judges of election 
were parties to it ; and your committee arc not 
prepared to assume a fact so disreputable to them, 
and so improbable upon the state of facts pre- 
sented, without specific charges antl direct proof. 
In the absence of all proof and probable truth, 
the charge that the .ALissourians had invaded the 
Territory and controlled the congressional elec- 
tion by fraud and violence, was circulated 
tla-oui'hout the Free States, and made the basis 



98 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



of the most mflamniaton- appeiils to nil men op- 
posed to the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska 
act to emigrate or send emigrants to Kansas, for 
the purpose of repelling the invailers, and assist- 
ing their friends who were then in the Territory 
in putting down the slave power, and prohibiting 
Slavery iii Kansas, with the view of making it a 
Free State. E.xaggerated accounts of the large 
number of emigrants on their way under the 
auspices of the emigrant aid companies, with tiic 
view ot controlling the elect ion for m embers of 
the territorial legislature, which was to take 
place on the 30th of March, 1S.J5, were published 
and circulated. These accounts bemg repub- 
lished and believed in Missouri, where the ex- 
citement had already been inflamed to a fearful 
intensity, induced a corresponding effort to send 
at least an equal number, to counteract the ap- 
prehended result of this new importation. Your 
committee have not been able to obtain definite 
and satisfactory information in regard to the al- 
leged irregularities in conducting the election, 
and the number of illegal votes on the 30th of 
March: but, from the most reliable sources of 
information accessible to your committee, in- 
cluding various papers, documents, and state- 
ments, kindly furnished by Messrs. Whitfield 
and Eeeder, rival claimants of the delegate's seat 
in Congress for Kansas Territory, it would seem 
that the facts are substantially as follows : 

The election was held in obedience to the pro- 
clamation of the governor of the Territory, which 
prescribed the mode of procecxling, the form of 
the oath and returns, the precautionary safe- 
guards against illegal voting, and the mode of 
contesting the election, which were, in substance, 
the same as those already referred to in con- 
nection with the congressional election. When 
tlie period arrived for the governor to canvass the 
returns, and issue certificates to the persons 
elected, it appeared that protests had been filed 
against the fairness of the proceedings and the 
correctness of the returns, in seven out of the 
eighteen election-districts into which the Terri- 
tory had been divided for election purposes, al- 
leging fraudulent and illegal votinir by persons 
who were not actual settlers and qualifietf voters 
of the Territory. It also appears, that in some of 
these contested cases, the form of the oath ad- 
ministered to the judges, and of the returns made 
by them, were not in conformity to the proclama- 
tion of the governor. After a careful investiga- 
tion of the facts of each case, as presented by 
the returns of the judges, and the protests and 
allegations of all persons who disputed the fair- 
ness of the election and the correctness of the 
returns, the governor came to the conclusion 
that it was his duty to set aside the election in 
these seven disputed districts ; the effect of which 
was, to create two vacancies in the council, and 
nine in the House of Representatives of the Terri- 
tory, to be filled by a new election ; and to change 
the result so far as to cause the certificate for one 
councilman and one representative to issue to 
different persons than those returned as elected 
by the judges. Accordingly the governor issued 
his writs for special elections, to be held on the 
24th of May, to fill those vacancies, and, at the 
same time, granted certificates of election to 
eleven councilmen and seventeen representatives, 
whose election had not been contested, and whom 
ho adjudged to have been fairly elected. At the 
special election to fill these vacancies, three of 
the persons whose election on tlic 30th of March 
had been set aside for the reasons already stated, 
were re-elected, and in the other districts different 
persons were returned ; and the governor having 
adjudged them to have been duly elected, ac- 
cordingly granted them certificates of election, 
thus making the full complement of thirteen 
councilmen and twenty-six representatives, of 



whom, by the organic law of the Territory, the 
legislature was to be composed. On the 17th 
day of April the governor issued his proclama- 
tion, sunuiHUiiiig llicsc thirteen councilmen and 
twenty-six representatives, whom he had com- 
missioned as having been fairly elected, to assem- 
ble at Pawnee City on the 2nd day of July, and 
organize as the legislature of the Territory of 
Kansas. 

It appears from the journal that the two 
Houses did assemble, in o'bedience to the Gover- 
nor's proclamation, at the time and place ap- 
pointed by him ; and, after the oath of office had 
been duly administered by one of the judges of 
the supreme court of fhe'Territory, to each of 
the members who lield the Governor's certificate, 
proceeded to organize their respective houses by 
the election of their officers ; and each notified 
the other, by resolution, that they were thus duly 
organized. Also, by joint resolution, aj)pointe"d 
a committee who waited on the Governor, and 
informed him that " the two houses of the Kan- 
sas Lef'/.s/fl/i/re are organized, and are now ready 
to proceed to business, and to receive" such 
communication as he may deem necessary. 

In response to this joint resolution, " a message 
from the Governor, by Mr. Higgins, his private 
secretary, transmitting his message, was received, 
and ordered to be read." 

The message commences thus : 

" To the Honorable the Council and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the Territory of Kansas : 

"Having been duly notified tliat your respective 
bodies have organized for the performance of your of- 
ficial functions, I herewith submit to you the usual 
executive communication relative to .suf'jects of legis- 
lation, which univer,sal and long-continued usai;e in 
analogous cases would seem to d'-roand. altliough no 
express requirement of it i.s to be f.)und in the act of 
Congress which has brought us into official existence, 
and prescribed our official dutie.i. 

" The position which we occupy, and the solemn 
trust which is confided to us for originating the law.s 
and institutions, and moulding the destinies of a new 
republic in the very geographical centre ni our vast 
and magnificent confederation, cannot but impress us 
with a deep and solemn sense (f the heavy responsi- 
bility which we have as.sumed. and admonish us to 
lay aside all sefish and equivocal motives, to discard 
all unworthy ends, and, in the spirit of justice and 
charity to each other, with jiure henrts, tem- 
pered feelings, aud sober judgments, to address cur- 
selves to our tnsk, and so perform it in the fear and 
reverence of that God who oversees our work, that 
the star that we exp.ct to add to the national banner 
shall be dimmed by no taint or tarnish of dishonor, 
and be subject to no reproach save that which springs 
from the inevitable fallibility of just and upright 
men." 

The Governor, with the view to the " ascertain- 
ment of the existing law" in the Territory, pro- 
ceeds to trace the history of all legislation affect- 
ing it since the country was acquired from 
France, and advises the legislature to pass such 
laws as the public interest might require upon all 
appropriate subjects of legislation, and particix- 
larly the Slavery question, the division of the 
Territory into counties, the organization of coun- 
ty courts, the election of judicial and ministerial 
officers, education, taxes, revenues, the location 
of the pennanent seat of government, and the or- 
ganization of the militia, as subjects worthy of 
their immediate attention. 

From this message, as well as from all the of- 
ficial acts of the Governor preceding it, having 
reference to the election and return of the mem- 
bers and the convening of the two houses for le- 
gislative business, the conclusion is irresistible, 
that up to this period of time the Governor had 
never conceived the idea — if, indeed, he has since 
entertained it — that the two houses were spurious 
and fraudulent assemblies, having no rightful 



TUB KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



99 



BUtliority to jinss laws whidi wduM )»• binding 
upon tlic i>t'c>|ilt( of KansMH. On the lirnt duy ol 
the i'es>iiin, anil iinmeilialoly aflcr lli>' or^iinizu- 
tioii of tin- liiiuso WMH trtcctl'd, llic I'lilluwinj,' Uc- 
solutiuu WU8 udofited : 

" Rfsolr^d. Tlmt all persons who in;iy lie-in- to con- 
test till- .si-Kt« of ftnv ptTMoiis now liulUiiig certilicaU-H of 
olectidii ua nirniberi* ol' tliin limise. may pr'-Ht-nl thi-ir 
pr<>to-t8 lo tlit'ciimniitti'B on cre'lootials, and tliat no- 
tic llier-'of shall b« giveu to tho peisons boMiug 
such certificates." 

On tlio ith day of .Tuly, (boiiip^ tlic tliiid day 
of the »osi»ion,) tho niajonty of tlu' connnittoo, in- 
chulini; four of tho five nicnibcrs, reiiorloil llint, 

" IHVIVG HKAItl) ASO KXAMINEI) AI.I. THK KVI- 
DKNCE TOUCIUjNc; THE MATlKIl OK I.N<iUIUY 1!E- 

FORK TilKM, and takintj tho orj,'anic hiw ot' Con- 
pross, passed on the 'JOih day of May, in tlio year 
1851, or^^anizini^ the Tirriturios of Kansas and 
Nebraska," a.s their guidinjj star, they have ar- 
rived at tiic conclusions wliieh tliey proceed to 
elucidate and enforce in a lentrthy report. From 
this reptu't, it appears that tifteen out of twenty- 
two members present wore permitled to retain 
their seals by unanimo\is consent, no one appear- 
in;; to contest or disiiute the fairness uf tho elec- 
tion, or re^'ularity or truthfulness of the return, 
in either of their cases. Hence the contest wa.s 
reduced to the claims of one nn'mber who re- 
ceived the certificate under the general election 
of the 30th of JIarch, and the si.\ members prc- 
eeiit who received certificates under the special 
election of the 24fh of May. In the first case the 
decision of the Governor was* reversed, and tlu; 
Beat awarded to the candidate who received the 
liiy:hest number of votes at the election of the 
3Uth of March, and from whom the certificate had 
been withheld by the Governor, upon the ground 
of irregularity in the election and returns from 
one precinct, the exclusion of which poll gave 
the majority to the opposing candidate. In tlie 
other six cases, the sitting mendjers were depriv- 
ed of their seats; and the candidates receiving 
the highest number of votes at the general elec- 
tion on the 3l)lli of March, were awarded their 
places, ap(vi the ground that the special election 
on tho 2-lih of May was illegal and void, the Gov- 
ernor not being authorized, by tho organic law 
of the Territory, to go behind the returns, and 
set aside the election held on the 30th of March. 
The minority report dissents from the reason- 
ing, and protests against the conclusions of the 
majority, and affirms the right of the sitting mem- 
ber to retain their seats, upon the ground that 
the governor's certificate was not merely prima 
facit evidence, but was conclusive, in respect to 
tlie rights of all claimants and contestants; and 
Hence the house could not go behind the certifi- 
cates of election to inquire whether there had 
been a previous election in those districts on the 
30th of March, and who had received the highest 
number of legal votes at that election. The 
proposition is thus stated in the minority report : 
"I cannot agree that this body has the right to 
go behind the decisions of the governor, who, by 
virtue of his otlico, is the organizing federal arm 
of the general government, to evolve and man- 
age a new government for this Territory, for tho 
obvious reason that Congress makes him the sole 
judge of the qualifications for membership." It 
IS true that the minority report, alludes to " evi- 
dence before the conmiittec of great deficiencies, 
not in the form of couductini; tlie elections, but in 
the manner of holdini; them, both as to the quah- 
fications of the judges who presiilid, and the re- 
turns made oiit by them," and s.-iys there is 
" no doubt that these illegal proceedings on the 
one hand induced the governor to withiiold cer- 
tificates from some who,' from the nmnber of votes 
returned in their favor, might at the same time 
appear to have been properly elected, and on the 



other, to have been tho ground on which he pre- 
xented a certificate in one instance, nnd in un- 
oiluT ordered a new elertion in reference to 
other ilistriclK." Hut while the minority report 
atlirniH the right of the governor to go behind 
the returns and investi^'ale irregularities and ille- 
gal votiii;,' at the election, as well as deficiencies 
in the forms of the rclurns, and axHcrts that he 
did exercise this riuht in each case in which lie 
granted or withheld a certificate, it maintains 
Itiat the governor's decision, on evinced by his 
certificate, was final and con<dusive and <'ould 
not he reviewed, nnicli less reversed, by either 
branch of the Territorial legislature. So far 0,» 
the question inv(dvcs the legality of the Kansas 
legislature, and the validity of its acts, it is en- 
tirely immaterial whether we ado[)t the reasoning 
and conclusions of the minority or majority re- 
ports ; for each proves that the legislature was 
legally anil duly constituted. The minority re- 
port establishes the fact, by the position that the 
governor's certificate was conclusive, and that 
he granted eertifieates to ten out of the thirteen 
councilmen, and to seventeen out of the twenty- 
six representatives who fiiudly held their seats, 
which was largidv more than a (|uor\im of each 
branch of the legislaturi-. 'I'he majority r<port 
establishes the sanir- fact, by the position that 
after going behind the governor's ci-rtificate, 
and carefully examining the facts, they con- 
firmed these same ten councilmen and seven- 
teen representatives in their seats, and then 
awarded the scats of the other three councilmen 
and nine representatives to the candidates whom 
they believed to have been legally elected at the 
general election on the 30th ofJlarch. 

The house, by eighteen votes in the affinnative 
to one vote in the negative, passed a resolution 
adopting the majority report, and declaring that 
the contestants " having been duly elected on the 
30th of March, 1855, are entitled to their seals as 
members of this house." Whereupon four of the 
sitting membcps, whose seats were vacated by the 
adoi)tion of the majority report, signed a protest, 
and asked that it be spread on the journal of the 
house, which was accordingly done in the follow- 
ing words : 

" Protest. 

"We, the undersigned, members of the House of 
Representatives of Kansas Torrilory, bL'lieve the or- 
ganic act organizing ilie said Territory gives this 
liouse uo power lo oust any member frcjm this house 
who has received a certiticate from thegmernor; that 
this house cannot go behind an elrction called by the 
governor, and consider any claims based on a prior 
election. We would therelore protest against such a 
proceeding, and ask this protest to be spread upon 
the journal of this house. 

"JOHN' HUTCHINSON', 
WIl.LIA.M JESSEK, 
AltilTSTUS WATTLES, 
E. D. LADU." 

Under date of July 6, the journal contains 
a message from the governor to the " house of 
representatives of the Territory of Kansas," re- 
turning " house bill entitled ' An act to remove 
the seat of government temporarily to the Shaw- 
nee Manual Labor School, in tho Territory of 
Kansas,' together with his objections.'' While 
the governor, in assigning his reasons for return- 
inac the bill, labors to prove that the legislature 
had transcended its authority under the organic 
act, in adopting this particular measure, and ar- 
gues against its expediency, on the score of the 
loss of time and money in removing to a difTer- 
ent place during the session, he clearly and dis- 
tinctly recognizes the council and house of repre- 
sentatives as constituting the legislature of the 
Territory of Kansas, elected and organized in 
conformity to the act of Congress creating the 
Territory. 

Tho reasons of tho governor for returning the 



100 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



bill, was spread upon the journal, auil upon ro- 
cousideration, it was passed by a two thirds' vote 
in each branch of the legislature, and tlufa be- 
came the law of the land, " the objections of the 
governor to the contrary notwitlistandin;,^." 

On the same day the following resolution was 
adojjted by both houses : 

" Itesotved hy the Huusf. of Representatives of the 
Tenilwy of Kun^aa, (the Council cuniyurriTtg therein,) 
TUat tlie legisla'ure of said Territory do adjourn on 
the 6th day of July, A. D. 1855. to meet again on 
Monday, the 16th day of July, 1>55, at 2 o'clock, p. M., 
at the Shawnee Manual-labor School, in the said Ter- 
ritory." 

And ou the same day the following resolution 
was also adopted by both houses : 

•' Resolved, That a Commiitee of three be appointed 
on the part of the Council, tn act in conjuniition with 
a Comniittfe on the part of the Ilou-e of Representa- 
tives, to inform his excellency the Governor th<t the 
Legislative Assembly wi'l adjourn this afternoon, to 
meet on Monday, the 16th instant, at the Shawnee 
Manual-labor School, in the Territory of Kansas." 

On the 16th of July, tho two houses assembled, 
in pursuance of the adjournment, at the Shawnee 
Manual labor School, known as Sliawuee Mission, 
and proceeded to the discharge of their legisla- 
tive duties. In the mean time the Governor had 
also repaired to Shawnee Mission, it being the 
place of his residence in the Territory, and the 
seat of the executive offices as established and 
continued by himself, during the whole period he 
exercised the executive functions. 

On the 21st of July, a message was received 
from the Governor, by his private secretary, Mr. 
Lowry, directed " To the House of Representa- 
tives of the Territory of Kansas," in which he 
says: "I return to your House, in which they 
originated, the bill entitled 'An act to prevent 
the sale of intoxicating liquors, and games of 
chance, within one mile of the Shawnee Manual- 
labor School, in the Territory of Kansas,' and 
the bill entitled 'An act to establish a ferry at 
the town of Atchison, in Kansas Territory,' 
without my approval. I see nothing in the bills 
themselves to prevent nry sanction of them, and 
my reasons for disapproval have been, doubtless, 
anticipated by you, as necessarily resulting 
from the opinion expressed in my message of 
the 6th instant." 

The Governor then proceeds to argue the 
question at great length, whether the legislature 
is now in session at a place which can be recog- 
nized as a seat of govcrnmciif, where the business 
of legislation can be legally or legitimately car- 
ried on. 

He does not question the fairness and legality 
of the election of the members composing the 
legislature ; nor the regularity and validity of 
their organization; nor their competency as a 
legislature to pass all laws which they may 
deem necessary and proper for the best interests 
of the people of Kansas, /^/-oy/zZtv? it shall be done 
at the right place. Upon this point he says : 

"It seems to be plain that the legislature now in 
session, so far as the place is concerned, is in contra- 
vention of the act of Congress, and where they have 
no right to sit, and can make no valid legislation. 
Entertaining these views, I can give no sanction to 
any bill that may be passed ; and if my re;isons are 
not satisfactory to the Legislative A.ssembly, it follows 
that we must act independently of each other." 

In conclusion tho Governor says : 

"If I am right in these opinions, and our Territory 
shall derive no fruits from the meeting of the present 
Legislative Assembly, I shall at least have the satis- 
faction of recollecting that I called the attention of 
the Assembly to the point before they removed, and 
that the responsibility, therefore, rests not oa the 
Kxecutive." 

The Governor having thus suspended all offi- 
cial intercourse with the two branches of the 



legislature, refusing to examine their acts with 
a view of either approving or disapproving 
them, they appointed a joint committee of the 
two houses to drtiught a memorial to the Presi- 
dent of the United States, asking his removal 
from the office of governor; which memorial 
was signed by the presiding officers and mem- 
bers in joint session. The memorialists, after 
reviewing the causes which had led to such 
serious difficulties, and vindicating the right of 
the legislature, under the organic act, to remove 
the seat of government from Pawnee City to 
Shawnee Mission, concluded as follows: 

"In conclusion, we charge the Governor, A. H. 
Reeder, with willful neglect of the interests of the 
Territory ; with endeavoring, by all means in his power, 
to subvert th" ends and objects intended to be accom- 
plished by the "Kansas and Nebraska bill,' by neglect- 
ing the public interests and making them subservient 
to private speculation; by aiding and encuraging 
persons in factious and treasonable opposition to the 
wishes of the majority of the citizens of the Territory, 
and the laws of the United States in force in said 
Territory ; by eucouraging persons to violate the laws 
of the United States, and set at defiance the com- 
mands of the general Governoient ; bv inciting persons 
to resist the laws which may be passed by the present 
Legislative Assembly of this Territory. For these, 
and many other reasons, we respectfully pray your 
excellency to remove tue said A. H. Reeder from the 
exercise of the functions now held by him in said 
Territory ; and represent that a continuance of the 
same will be prejudicial to the best interests of 
the said Territory And, as iu duty bound, we will 
ever pray," etc., etc. 

[ Signed by the officers and members of both houses. ] 

On the 15th of August, Governor Reeder ad- 
dressed a note to the Department of State, 
acknowledging the receipt of a communication 
from the acting Secretary, under date of the 28th 
July, in which he was notified that " in conse- 
quence of your [Governor Reeder's] purchase 
of Kansas half-breed hinds," and "more espe- 
cially the undertaking of sundry persons, your- 
self included, to lay out new cities on military 
or other reservations in the Temtory of Kan- 
sas," and "more particularly, as you have sum- 
moned the Legislative Assembly of the Temtory 
to meet at one of the places referred to, deno- 
minated in your official proclamation ' Pawnee 
City,' I have, therefore, by the direction of the 
President, to notify you that your functions and 
authority as Governor of the Territory of Kansas 
are hereby terminated." 

On the 16th of August, the journal of the 
House of Representatives says: 

" The following message was received from Gover- 
nor A. H. Reeder, by Mr. Lowry, his private secre- 
tary : 

" To the honorable the members of the Council and 
House of Representatives of the Territory of Kansas : 

"Gentlemen : Although, in my message to your 
bodies under date of the 21st instant, (ult.) I stated 
that I was unable to convince myself of the legality 
of your session at this pl.ice, for reasons then given ; 
and although that opinion still remains unchanged, 
yet, inasmuch as my reasons were not satisfactory to 
your body, and the bills passed by your houses have 
been up to this time sent to me for approval, it is 
proper that I should inform you that alter your ad- 
journment of yesterday I received oiBcial cotification 
that my functions as governor of the Territory of 
Kansas were terminated. No successor having ar- 
rived. Secretary Woodson will of course perform the 
duties of the office as acting governor. 

"A. H. Reeder." 

Inasmuch as Governor Reeder dissolved his 
official relations with the legislature, and denied 
the validity of their acts, solely upon the ground 
ttiat they were enacted in the wrong place, it be- 
comes material to inquire whether it was com- 
petent for them, under the organic act, to remove 
the seat of government temi)Orarily from " Paw- 
nee City'' to tho Shawnee Mission. The 24th 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



101 



eoctioii of tin: nri,'imic net ]>rovidcs " flint tlio 
]c|,'iKl!itivi> ixiwcr III' the Tcnitury shall cxttiid 
to all ri;,'liltiil ^iilijcctH of l<->;iHliitioii coiiKiHfoiit 
Willi tlif ( 'oiislitutum of tliu United Stiiti-s uiid tlio 
provisions of this net." 

Tliiit till- loiiiiioii of tho sent of povornmont, 
and the rhiiii-rini; of tlio sumo whenever the pub- 
lic interests and eonvenienee mny reiiiiire it, is a 
" rightful snhjeet of legislation," is tiio plain to 
ndniil of aif,'iinieiit ; hence the power is clearly 
inehuled in this peneial arrant, and may be exer- 
cised at pleasure by the leRislutiire, unless it 
phall be made to appear that Conjiress, by soino 
other provision, has imposed rcstrictiouB or con- 
ditions upon its exercise. 

The tlnrty first section of the orfimiie net pro- 
vides " that tlie tempornry seat of frovcrnment 
of said Territory is lierehy located at Fort Lenv- 
eiiworth ; and that such portions of the public 
buildings ns may not be act nail v usimI and need 
ed for military purposes uiay do occupied and 
used, under the direction of the governor and 
legislative assembly, for such public purposes ns 
may be required under the provisions of this 
act";" and the twenty-second section of tlie same 
act provides that " the persons thus elected to 
the legislative as.-embly shall meet at such place 
and on such day as the governor shall appoint' 
for the first meeting. These two provisions, be- 
ing parts of the same act, and having reference 
to tlio enmo subject-matter, must be taken to- 
gether, and receive such a construction as will 
give full eftect to each, and not render cither 
nusratory. While, therefore, the governor was 
autliorized to convene the legislature, in the lirst 
instance, nt such place as he should aitpoiiit, still 
he was required, by that provision which made 
Fort Leavenworth the temporary seat of govern- 
ment, with the view of using some of the public 
buildings, to designate as tiie i)lace some one of 
the public buildings within the military resen-a- 
tion of Fort Leavenworth. Had not Congress, 
in the mean time, interposed and changed the law, 
as here presented, the governor would not have 
been autliorized to liave convened tiie legislature 
at " Pawnee City," nor at any other place in the 
Territory than some one of the public bnildinjjs 
at Fort Leavenworth, as provided in the organic 
act. 

In view of the fact that the Secretary of War 
had intimated an opinion that all of the public 
buildings at Fort Leavenworth were needed for 
military purposes, and that the location of the 
Beat of government, even temporarily, within 
the lines of a military reservation, where the 
military law must necessarily prevail, would be 
inconvenient, if not injurious to the public ser- 
vice, the following provision was adopted in the 
appropriation bill of the 6th of August, 1854, for 
the purpose of enabling the governor to erect 
buildings for the temporary seat of government 
at some more suitable and convenient point in 
the Territory: " That, in the event that the Sec- 
retary of War shall deem it inconsistent with the 
interest of the military .service to furnish a sufH- 
cieut portion of the military buildings at Fort 
Leavenworth for the use of the Territorial gov- 
ernment of Kansas, the sum of twenty-five thou- 
sand doUar.s shall be, and in that contingency is 
hen'by, appropriated, for the erection of public 
buildings for the use of the legislature of the 
Territory of Kansas, to be expended under the 
diiecti<ui of the governor of said Territory." 

Under this provision, taken in connection 
with that clause of the organic act which au- 
thorized the governor to convene the hgislature 
at such place as he should ajipoint, he would 
have had the right to establi,-h tin- t<>niporary 
seat of government and erect the i)ublic build- 
ings at Pawnee City, or any other place he 
might have selected in the Territory, instead 



of Fort Leav<-nworth. but for the fact that on 
the :)d of Man-h, IK.'j.'i, and before any Jioilion 
of the moni'v had l>i-eii expen<led, or even the 
site selected, Congress made a furth<-r ajipro- 
in-iation of twenty live thiuisnnd dollars for ])ub- 
lic buildings, with the proviso "that said mon- 
ey, or any part lli<ri of, or any (lortion of the 
money heretofori- ap]propriated" for this piirjiosc 
shall not be expenilcd until tin- legislature of 
said Territory shall liav4' tlx<-d bv law the per- 
mnncnt seat of governiiient." 'iNiis proviHioii 
(lid not confer uiion the legislature any power 
ill respect to the location of the seat of "govern- 
ment, either temporarily or permanently, which 
it did not previously possess ; for thegeiieral 
grant, extending to all " rightful subjects of 
legislation," necessarily inelude(l tin- right to 
determine the ]dace of lioMing its si'ssions. 
The tdijcct, as well as legal effect, of this provi- 
sion, was, to restrain the governor from expend- 
ing the api)ropriation until the voice ot the 
peoi)|e of Kansas shouhl be exju-essed, through 
their legislature, in the selection of the jdace; 
leaving the governor to perform his whole 
duty under the 22il section of the organic act, 
by appointing the ]dace and day of tlu; first 
meeting of tlie legislature, and of exjiending 
the money ajipropriated bj' Congress for the 
erection of punlie buildings, at such iiluce as 
the legislature should designate for the perma- 
nent seat of government of the Territory. 

Under this view of the subject, it is evident 
that the legislature was clothed with legitimate 
authority to enact the law in obedience to which 
its session was adj(uirned fmin Pawnee City to 
Shawnee Mission ; and that its enactments, made 
at the latter place, must have the same force and 
validity that they would have possessed had not 
the removal taken place. 

Those who seek to find some tenable ground 
upon which to destroy the validity of the legisla- 
tive acts of Kansas, seeing that they cannot 
safely rely upon the alleged irregularity of the 
elections, nor upon the alisenee of legal authori- 
ty in the legislature to remove the seat of Gov- 
ernment, flatter themselves that they have re- 
cently discovered a new fact which will extricate 
them from their difficulty, and enable them to 
accomplish their purpose. It is, that by the 
treaties of November /, 18'25, and of August 8, 
1.S31, with the Shawiues of Jlissouri and Ohio, 
a large tract of lan<i, including the Shawnee 
Mission, where the legislature held its session, 
and the governor established the executive of- 
fices, was secured to those Indians, with the 
guaranty 0!>the ]>art of the United States "that 
said lands shall never be within the bounds of 
any State orTen-itory, nor subject to the laws 
thereof;" and that the I9th section of the Kan- 
sas-Nebraska act provides that " nothing in this 
act contained shall be construed to include any 
temtory which, by treaty with any Imlian tribe, 
is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be 
included within the territorial limits or jurisdic- 
tion of any State or Territory ; but all such ter- 
ritory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, 
and constitute no jiart of the Territory of Kan- 
sas." Upon the authority of these clauses of 
the treaties, and of the act of Congress organ- 
izing the Territory, it is assumed that the 
Shawnee Mission, where the legislature enacted 
those laws, was not within the limits or jurisdic- 
tion of tlie Territory of Kansas, and hence they 
Were null and void. Without admitting, even 
by implication, that the place where the legis- 
lature should enact its laws would to any ex- 
tent impair tlnir validity, it is proper to call 
the attention of the Senate to the fact reconled 
on its journal, that on the 10th of May, 185-}, 
(only a few days before the jiassage of the Kan- 
sas-Nebraska act,) a treaty was made with 



102 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



these Seimc Imliiiiis, by the first article of which 
all the lands jjranti-d to them by the said trea- 
ties of ISaS and 1831 were ceded to the United 
States, and, being thus exempted from the ope- 
ration of the guaranties in those treaties, were, 
by the tenns of the organic act of Kansas, in- 
cluded within the limits, and rendered subject 
to the jurisdiction of said Ten-itory. 

The second article granted the house in 
which the legislature afterwards held its ses- 
sions, and the land upon which tlie house stood, 
to the missionary society of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church South, in these words : " Of the 
lands Iving east of the parallel line aforesaid, 
there sliall first be set apart to the missionary 
society of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South, to include the improvements of the In- 
dian Manual-labor School, three sections of land ; 
to tile Friends' Shawnee Labor-school, including 
the improvements there, three hundred and 
twenty acres of land ; and to the American 
Baptist Union, to include the improvements 
where the superintendent of the school now re- 
sides, one hundred and sixty acres of land ; and 
also five acres of land to the Shawnee Methodist 
Church, including the meetinghouse and grave- 
yard ; and two acres of land to the Shawnee 
Baptist Church, including the meeting-house 
and grave-yard." 

The other articles of the treaty provide for 
the survey of those lands, and for gi-anting two 
hundred acres to each Shawnee Indian, to be 
held as pi-ivate property, subject to such condi- 
tions as Congress should impose, and recognize 
the right of the legislature to lay out roads and 
public highways across the Indian lands, on the 
same terms as the law provides for their loca- 
tion through the lands of citizens of the United 
States. The Rev. Thomas Johnson, who was 
president of the Kansas legislative council, and 
also agent of the Missionary society of the Me- 
thodist Episcopal Church, to which the lands and 
improvements belonged, authorized the legis- 
lature to use and occupy such portions of the 
buildings of which he held the lawful posses- 
sion as they should find convenient in the exer- 
cise of their legislative functions. 

Upon a cai-etul review and examination of 
all the facts, laws, and treaties, bearing upon 
the point, your committee are clearly of the 
opinion that the Shawnee Manual-labor School 
was a place to which the legislature might 
lawfully adjourn and enact valid laws in pursu- 
ance of the organic act of the Territory. 

We do not deem it necessary to inquire into 
the expediency of the removal of the seat of 
government, for the reason that it cannot affect 
the validity of the legislative proceedings. It 
is sufficient to state, that the reasons assigned 
by the Governor against the expediency ot the 
nieasure were : first, " the loss of time (more 
valuable because limited) which our organic 
law allots to the legislative session ;" and se- 
condly, •' because it will involve a pecuniary 
loss, in view of the aiTangements which have 
been made at this place for our accommoda- 
tion." As an ofl'set to the unfortunate circum- 
stance that the people of Kansas would be de- 
prived, for the period of ten days, of all the 
advantages and protection which were expect- 
ed to result from the wholesome laws which 
the governor had recommended them to enact 
upon all rightful subjects of legislation, and to 
tlie pecuniary losg, which would be sustained iu 
consc<iuence of the removal from Pawnee City, 
the members of the legislature, in theu' memo- 
rial to (he President of the United States, askhig 
him to remove tlie governor, state their reasons 
as follows, for the alh gation that there was an 
unnecessary loss of three months' time after 
the election in convening the legislature,, aad. 



that Pawnee was not a suitable place for them 
to meet : 

" After the contest was over, and the result 
known, he delayed the assembling of the body 
until the 2d day of July — jnore than three 
months afterwards — and that, too, when the 
whole Union was convulsed on account of al- 
leged outrages in Kansas Territory, and yet no 
law for the punishment or prevention of them. 
When at last they did meet, upon the call of 
the governor, at a point where they had pre- 
viously, in an informal manner, protested 
against being called, with an avowal of their 
intention to adjourn to the point at which they 
are now assembled, for the reasons that the re- 
quisite accommodations could not be had ; where 
there were no facilities for communication 
with their families or constituents ; where they 
could not even find the commonest food to eat, 
unless at an enormous expense, there being no 
gardens yet made by the squatters ; where the 
house iu which we were expected to assemble 
had no roof or floor on the Saturday preceding 
the Monday of our assembling, and for the 
completion of which the entire Sabbath day and 
night was desecrated by the continual labor of 
the mechanics ; where, at least, one-half of the 
members, employes, and almost all others who 
had assembled there for business or othei-wise, 
had to camp out in wagons and tents during a 
rainy, hot season, and where cholera broke out, 
as a consequence of the inadequate food and 
shelter; and when, under all of these circum- 
stances of annoyance, they finally passed an act 
adjourning to this point — Shawnee Manual-la- 
bor School — where ample accommodations are 
provided, and where the governor himself had 
previously made it the seat of government, they 
were met by his veto, which is herewith trans- 
mitted." 

Your committee have not considered it any 
part of their duty to examine and review each 
enactment and provision of the large volume of 
laws adopted by the legislature of Kansas upon 
almost every rightful subject of legislation, and 
affecting nearly every relation and interest in 
life, with a view either to their approval or dis- 
approval by Congress, for the reason that they 
are local laws, confined in their operation to the 
internal concerns of the Territory, the control 
and management of which, by the principles of 
the Federal Constitution, as well as by the very 
terms of the Kansas-Nebraska act, are confided 
to the people of the Territory, to be determined 
by themselves through their representatives in 
their local legislature, and not by the Congress, 
in which they have no representatives to give or 
withhold their assent to the laws upon which 
their rights and liberties may all depend. Under 
these laws marriages have taken place, children 
have been born, deaths have occurred, estates 
have been distributed,, contracts have been made, 
and rights have accrued which it is not compe- 
tent for Congress to divest. If there can be a 
doubt in respect to the validity of these laws, 
growing out of the alleged irregularity of the 
election of the members of the legislature, or the 
lawfulness of the place where its sessions were 
held, which it is competent for any tribunal to 
inquire into with a view to its decision at this 
day, and after the series of events which have 
ensued, it must be a judicial question, over which 
Congress can have no control, and which can be 
determined only by the courts of justice, under 
the protection and sanction of the Constitution. 

When it was proposed in the last Congress to 
annul the acts of the legislative assembly of Min- 
nesota, incorporating certain railroad companies, 
this committee reported against the proposition, 
and, instead of annulling the local legislation of 
the Tenitory, recommended the repeal of that 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



103 



clause of the oikuhu- net of Minnesota wliuh 
restTVfs to Counn-ss tli.- n(.'lit to diHupprovL- its j 
liiws. That rfi'oiiiiiunclation was based on tin- | 
th<(.rv that tlu- jmo).!.' of fht- T.rntory, L.-niK I 
citizens of the United States, wi-iv entitled to | 
the nrivile>,'e of Helf-Koverninent in obedienee , 
to the ("on.-titutioii; and if, in tlie exer.-ise ot 
this ri-ht. th.v had made wise and just hiws, 
thev ou^'llt to \>r permitted to enjov all tlf ad- 
VantUL'es r.-sultiiiK from then.; while, on the 
oontniry, if ihev had made unwise and unjust 
laws, thev should abide the eoliseciuenees ot 
their own nets until they diseovercd, ntkuow- ■ 
led.'ed, and correeted their errors. 

It has been alle^jed that f,'rosa niisrcprcsontn- 
tions have been made in respect to tlii> chara(s j 
ter of the laws enacted by the lcj,n>|ature ot I 
Kansas, calculated, if not desit,'ned, to preju- 
dice the public mind at a distance against those 
who enacted them, and to create the impres- 
sion that it was the duty of Con^,'ress to inter- I 
fere and annul them. In view of the violent 
Uiul insurrectionarv measures which were beiuf,' | 
taken to r.sist the'laws of the Territory, a con- ^ 
vention of d. lej^ates, r.'prescntin;,' almost every , 
portion of the Territorv of Kansas, was held at j 
the city of Leavenworth on the 14th of Noveni- j 
Ler, 1805, at which men of all shades of political 
opinions, " Whi^s, Democrats, I'ro-slavery i 
men, and Free-state men, all met and harino- I 
uized together, and forgot their former dift'er- 
enees in the common danger that seemed to 
threaten the peace, good order, and prosperity 
of this conimunitv." This convention was pre- 
sided over by the governor of the Territory, as- 
sisted by a majority of the judges of the su- 
preme court ; and the address to the citizens of 
the United States, among other distinguished 
uames, bears the signatures of the United 
States district attorney and marshal for the 
Territorv. 

It is but reasonable to assume that the inter- 
pretation which these functionaries have given 
to the acts of the Kansas legislature in this ad- 
dress will be observed in their otlicial exposi- 
tion and execution of the same. In reference 
to the wide-sjiread perversions and misrepre- 
sentations of those laws, this address says: 

" The laws passed by the legislature have been most 
grosslj misrepresi-nttfd. with the view of prejudicing 
the public against that bodj.andas an excuse for the 
revolutionary movements in tlii.s Ti-rritory. The 
limits of this addrets will not permit a correction (jf 
all these misrepresentations; but we will notice s >me of 
thom, that have h;id tlie most wide-spread circulation. 

" It hii8 been charged and wid'-ly circulated tbut the 
legislature, in order to perpetuate their rule, had pass 
ed a law prescribing the qualification of voters, by 
which it is oeclared • that any cue may vote who will 
Bwoar allegiance to the fugitive-^lave law. the Kansas 
and Nebraska bill, and pay one dollar.' Such la de- 
clared to be the evidence of citizenship, such the 
qual'fication of voters. In reply to this, we say that 
no such law was over passed by the legislature. The 
law prescribing the qualificat.on of voters expressly 
provn'ics that, to entitle a person to vote, he must be 
twenty-one years of age, an actual inhabitant of this 
Territorv, and of the county or district in which ho 
offers to vote, and shall have paid a territorial tax. 
There is no law requiring him to pay a dollar-tax as 
a qualiHcaiiou to vote, lie must pay a tax it is true, 
[and this is by no means an unusual requirement in 
the Stales ;] but whether this t^x is levied on his per- 
gonal or real property, hi.s money at interest, or is a 
poll-lax. makes no d fference ; the payment of any 
teriitoriiil tax entitles the person to lote, provided 
he has the other qualifications provided by law. The 
act seems to be carefully drawn with the view of ex- 
cluding all illegal and foreign votes. The voter must 
be an inhabitant of the Territory, and of the coui.ty 
or district in which he offers to vote, and he must 
have paid a territorial tax. The judges and cleiks 
are required to he sworn, and to keep duplicate poU- 
Doxes; and ample provision is made for contesting 
elections, and purging the polls of all illegal votes. 



It ii dilllcuU to BW how a more guarded law could be 
framed, for the purp' «n of pnitoclini; the puiity of 
elections and the »aiiclily of the bullut-box. The 
law does not require the voter to iiwenr to mipport 
the funitive-Hlavo law, or the Kaiisua and Nebruhka 
bill, unlrBS ho in challenged ; iu that cnae, he is re- 
quired to take nil onth to suiiport each ol these law*. 
As to the dollar law, (bo called.) it in nieielya poll- 
tax, and has no iiii>re connection with the liKhtof 
BufTuige than any other tax levied by the territorial 
authority, and ih to be paid whether the party votes 
or not. It is a mere temporary measure, having no 
force beyond this year, and was resorted to as iiuch 
to supply the territorial treasury with the uecc»i>arjr 
means to carry on tbo government. 

" It has also been charged against the legislature that 
they elected all of the oUicers of the Territory for six 
years. This is without any louudation. They elected 
no oflicor for six years; and the only ci\il ollicera 
they retain the election of, that occurs to uh at pre.s- 
ent. are the auditor and treasurer of state, and the 
district attorneys, who hold their ollices for four, and 
not SIX years. Ily the organic act, the c< minis-iong 
issued by the governor to the civil officers ol ilie Ter- 
ritory all expired on the adjournmeut of the legisla- 
laturo. To prevent a failure in tlio loc.il adiiiiniMlra- 
tion, and from necessity, the legislature made a num- 
ber of temporary appointments, such as probate 
judge, and two county commissioners, and a r-henlfof 
each county. The probate judge and county commis- 
sioners constitute the tribunal for the transaction of 
county business, and are invested with the power to 
appoint justices of the peace, constable>, county sur- 
veyor, recorder, and clerk, etc. Probate judgen, coun- 
ty commissiouors, sherilfs, etc., are all temporary ap- 
pointment-S and are made elective by the people at 
the first annual election inlS57. The legislature could 
not have avoided making some temporary appoint- 
ments. No election could have been held without 
them. There were no judges, justices of th^ peace, or 
other officers to conduct an election of any kind, un- 
til appointed by the legislature. It was the exercise 
of a powcrwhich the first legislative assembly in every 
Territory must, of necessity, exercise, in onler to put 
ihe local government in motion. We see nothing in 
this to justify revolution or a resort to force. The 
law fur the protection of slave property has also been 
much misunderstood. The right to pass such a law is 
expressly staled by Governor Reedcr in bis inaugural 
message, in which he says: ' A territorial legislature 
may undoubtedly act upon the question to a limited 
and partial extent, and may temporarily prohibit, tol- 
erate or regulate slavery iu the Territory, and iu an 
absolute or modified form, with all the force and ef- 
lect of any other legislative act, binding until repeal- 
ed by the same power that enacted it.' There is noth- 
ing in the act itself, as h-is been charged, to prevent 
a free discussion of tile subject of slavery, lis bear- 
ing on society, its morality or expediency, or whether 
it would be politic or impolitic to make this a slave 
.-tate, can be discussed here as fn ely as in any State 
in this Union, without infringing any of the provis- 
iims of the law. To deny the right of a person to hold 
slaves under the law in this Territory is made penal; 
but beyond this, there is no restriction to the discus- 
sion of the Slavery question, in any aspect iu which 
it is capable of being considered. We ito not wish to 
be understood as approving of all the laws | a.ssed by 
the legislature; on the contrary, we would state that 
there are some that w« do not approve of. and which 
are condi mned by public opinion here, and which will, 
no doubt, be repealed or modified at the meeting of the 
next legislature. But this is nothing more than what 
frequently occurs, both in the legislation of Congress 
and of the various State legislatures. The remedy 
for such evils is to be found in public orinion, to 
which, sooner or later, in a government like ours, all 
laws must conform." 

A few days after Governor Reeder dissolved 
his otHcial relations with the legislature, on ac- 
count of the removal t>f the scat of government, 
and while that body was still in session, a meet- 
ing was called bv " many voters," to assemble 
at Lawrence on tlie IJth nr 15th of August, 1855, 
" to take into consideration the propriety of 
calling ft Ten-itorial convention, preliminary to 
I the formation of a State govennnent, and other 
j subjects (if public interest." At that meeting 
1 tlie following preamble and resolutions wera 
j adopted with but one dissenting voice : 



104 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



" Whereas the people of Kansas Territorj' have 
been cilice its seitlemeiit, and nowaie, without any 
law-making pon"?r : thia- fore, 

" Jie il renu/ved. That we,- the people of Kansas Ter- 
ritory, in maNs raeeliug asst-nibled, irrespective of par- 
ty diMinctious, influenced by a common necessity, and 
greath dcsiroux ol promoting the common good, do 
hereby call npnn and request all bona fide citizens of 
Kansas Territory, of whatev>r political view^aud predi- 
lections, to cou>ult togetherin their respectiveelection 
districts, and in mass convention or otherwise, elect 
three dele^'ates fur each re|ireseiitative of tlie Ingisla- 
tive assembly, by proclamation of Governor Reeder 
of date 10th March, 1855. said delegates to assemble 
in cnnven'ion at the town of Tnpeka, on the lyili day 
of Seiitember, l^hb, then and there to consider and de- 
termine upon all subjects of public interest, and par- 
ticulai ly upon that having reference totbe spi-edy 
formation of a .State constitution, with an intention 
of an immediate application to be admitted as a State 
into the Union of ttie United States of America." 

This meeting, so far as your committee have 
been able to ascerttiin was the first step in that 
series of proceedinrf.s which resulted in the 
adoption of a constitution and State govern- 
ment, to be put in operation on the 4th of the 
present month, in subversion of the Territorial 
ffovernmeut established under the authority of 
Congress. The right to set up the State gov- 
ernment in defiance of the constituted authori- 
ties of the Territory, is based on the assumption 
" that the people of Kansas Territory have been 
since its settlement, and now are, without any 
law- making power ;" in the face of the well- 
kuoTrn fact, that the Territorial legislature 
were then in session, in pursuance of the procla- 
mation of Governor Reeder, and the organic law 
of the Territory. On the 5th of September, a 
" Territorial delegate convention" assembled at 
the Big Springs " to take into consideration the 
present exigencies of political atfairs," at which, 
among others, the following resolutions were 
adopted : 

"Resolved, That this Convention, in view of its 
recent repudiatinn of the ac's of the so-called Kansas 
legislative assembly, respond most heartily to the 
call niiide bj' the people's convention of the 14th 
ultimo, for a delegate convention of the people of 
Kansas, to be held at Topeka, on the 19th instant, to 
cons.der the propriety of the formation of a State 
Constitution, and such matters as may legitimately 
come before it. 

" litsulved. That we owe no allegiance or obedience 
to the tyrannical enactments of this spurious legis- 
lature ; that their laws have no validity or binding 
force upon the people of Kansas; and that every free- 
man among us i.-t at full lilierty, consistently with his 
obligations as a citizen and a man, to defy and resist 
them if be choose so to do. 

'■' liesolviid. That we will endure and submit to these 
laws no longer ttian the best interests of the Territory 
require as the least of two evils, and will resist them 
to a bloody issue as soon as we ascertain that peace- 
able reme lies shall fail, and forcible resistance shall 
furnish any reasonable prospect of success ; and that 
in the mean time we recommend to our friends 
tbrougout the Territory, the organization and disci- 
pline of volunteer companies, and the procurement 
and preparation of arms." 

With the view to a distinct understanding of 
the meaning of so much of this resolution as 
relates to the " org«,nization and discipline of 
volunteer companies, and the procurement and 
prepartition of arms," it may be necessary to 
state, that there was at that time existing in the 
Territory a secret military organization, which 
had l)ct-n formed for political objects prior to 
the iilli-ged invasion, at the election on the 30th 
of Jliirili, and which held its tirst " Grand En- 
ctimjiiiuut at Ltiwreuce, February 8th, 1855." 
Your Committee luive been put in possession of 
a small printed pamphlet, containing the " con- 
Btitittion and ritual of the grand encampment 
and regiments of the Kansas legion of Kansas 
Territory, adopted April 4th, 1855," which, dur- 
ing the recent disturbances in that Territory, 



was taken on the person of one George F. War- 
ren, who attempted to conceal and destroy the 
same by thrusting it into his mouth, and biting 
and chewing it. Although somewhat mutilated 
by the " tooth prints," it bears internal evidence 
of being a genuine document, authenticated by 
the original signatures of " G. W. Hutchinson, 
grand general," and " J. K. Goodwin, grand 
quartermaster." On the last page was a charter 
of the Kansas legion, authorizing the said 
George F. WaiTen, from whose mouth the docu- 
ment was taken, to form a new regiment, as 
follows : 

" Charier of the Kansas Legion. 

"United States of America, ? 
Territory of Ka7i,sas. ^ 

"Know all men by these presents, that we, the 
Graijd Encampment of the Kansas Legion of Kansas 
Territory, have created, chartered, and empowered, 
and by these presents do create, charter, and empower 
George B'. Warren to be regiment 

, No. , of the Kansas Legion ; and, as such, 

they are hereby invested with all and singular the 
authority and privileges with which each and every 
regiment is invested, working under a charter from 
the Grand Encampment. 

'•In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our 
hands, this sixteenth dxy of August, one thousand 
eight hundred and fitty-five. 

"G. W. HUTCHINSON, 

Grand General. 
"J. K. GOODWIN, 

Grand Quartermaster," 

The constitution consists of six articles, regu- 
lating the organization of the " Grand Encamp- 
ment," which is " composed of representatives 
elected from each subordinate regiment existing 
in the Territory, as hereafter provided. The 
officers of the Grand Encampment shall consist 
of a Grand General, Grand Vice-General, Grand 
Quartermaster, Grand Paymaster, Grand Aid, 
two Grand Sentinels, and Grand Chaplain. 

"The Grand Encampment shall make all nomina- 
tions for Territorial officers at large, and immediately 
after such nominations shall have been made, the 
Grand General shall communicate the result to every 
regiment in the Territory." 

The officers of the "Grand Encampment" 
are. Grand General Rev. G. W. Hutchinson, 
Lawrence, K. T. 

Grand Vice-General, C. K. Holliday, Topeka, 

Grand Quartermaster, J. K. Goodwin, Law- 
rence, K. T. 

Grand Paymaster, Charles Leib, M. D., Lea- 
venworth city, K. T. 

By "the constitution of the subordinate en- 
campment," " the officers of each subordinate 
regiment shall consist of a colonel, a lieutenant- 
colonel, a quartermaster, aid, and two sentinels. 
The regiment located in each and every election 
district, shall make nominations for all candi- 
dates for oflices in their respective districts ; 
but where there shall be two or more regiments 
in any one election district, of whatever kind, 
these nominations shall be made by delegates 
from the respective encampments within said 
district." 

The "ritual" continues the order of business 
and modes of proceeding in the subordinate 
encampment, under the following heads : 

1st. Reading the minutes by the quarter- 
master. 

2d. Proposals for new recruits. 

3d. Voting for same. 

4th. Initiation of recruits. 

5th. Reports of committees. 

Gth. Unfinished business appearing on the 
minutes. 

7th. Miscellaneous business. 

8th. Adjournment. 



TlIK KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



105 



The "opening ccronKiny" of the nuburdinute 
enciunpniouts is iis fiillow.s: 

"The c<'lcinoI. ruulfiiiiiit-colonel, qunrterniaBtiT, 
pajiiiaster. aiil, mill HiniiiielH, being in their reiipoc- 
tive places the n-giineiit nhull he called aud thus 
addreNsod by the colonel : 

" Colunel Kcllo* -ioldiorB in Ui« Free-State arinj : 
The hour has arrived «h.-n we imist resume t'le duties 
dovolviii|j; upon us. Let us each, with a heart de- 
voted to jusiico patriotism, and liberty, attend close- 
ly to all the reguluiioDs laid down for our povern- 
meut and action ; ••ach laboriDp to make this review 
pleasant anil profitable to ourselves, and ablcsoing to 
our c< untry. Aid, are the sentinels at their pobt, with 
closed iloors f 

" Aid. They are- 

" Culcni-I. Aid, you will now review the troops in 
the reuiniont's pa»s-«ord«. 

'• Aitl. (Alter examination. ) I have examined 
tliem personally, and lind each correct. 

" Culonel. I i)ronounco this regiment arrayed aud 
ready for service.'' 

Then follows the process of initiating new re- 
cruits, who are properly vouclii'il for by mem- 
bers of the order, till' preliiniiiary obliitiitioiis to 
observe seerecy, tht? caticliism to which the 
candidate is subjeeted, and the explanations of 
the colonel in respect to the objects of the order, 
which are thus stated : 

" First, to secure to Kansas the blessing and pros- 
perity of being a free State ; and, secondly, to protect 
the ballot-bo.x trom the LKpnocs TOncu of iNrBiNCi- 

FLKO MEN." 

Tiiesc and all other questions being satisfac- 
torily answered, the tiiuil oath is thus adminis- 
tered: 

"With these explanations upon our part, we shall 
ask of you that you take with us an obligation placing 
yourself iu the same altitude as before. 

" OliLIGATIOS. 

' I, , in the most solemn manner, here 



in the presence of Heaven and these witnesses, bind 
myself that I will never reveal, nor cause to be re- 
vealed, cither by word, look, or .sign, by writing, print- 
ing, engraving, painting, or in any manner whatso- 
ever, anv thing |ieitainiiig to this institiitiou, save to 
persons duly qualified to receive the same. I will 
never reveal the nature of the organization, the 
place of meeiing, the fact that any person is a mem- 
ber of the .same, or even the existence of the organi- 
zation, except to persons legally qualified to receive 
the same. Sh"uld I at any time withdraw, or be sus- 
pended or cvpelled from this organization, I will keep 
this obligatmn to the end of life. If any books, pa- 
pers, or niou' ys belonging to this organization be in- 
trusted to my care or keeping, I will faithfully and 
completely deliver up the same to my successor in 
office, or any one legally authorized lo receive them. 
I will never knowingly propose a person lor member- 
ship in this order who is not in favor of making 
Kansas u free &'lale, and whom I feel BatisGed will 
exert his entire influence to bring about this re.'ult. 
I will support, maintain, anil abide by any honorable 
movement male by the organization to secure this 
great end, wl ich will not conflict with the laws of 
the country and the Constitution of the United States. 
I will unflinchingly vote for and support the candidates 
nominated by this organization in preference to any 
and all others. 

"To all of this obligation I do most solemnly pro- 
mise and affirm, binding my.self under the penalty of 
being expelled from this organization, of having my 
Dame published to the several Territorial encamp- 
ments as a perjurer before Ileavon, and a traitor to 
my country, of passing through life .scorned and re- 
Tiled by man, frowned on by devils, forsaken by 
angels, and abandoned by God." 

The " closing ceremony" is as follows : 
" Culonel. Fellow-soldiers: I trust this review has 
been both pleasant and profitable to all. We met aa 
frifnds ; let us pait as brothers, remembering that we 
seek no wrong to any ; and our bond of union in 
battling for the riglit must tend to make us better 
men. bettor nei.'lihors, and better citizeii.s. Wo thank 
you for your kindness and attention, and invite you 
all to be present at our next review, to be holdon at 
.on next, at o'clock P. m. Sonti- 



nelH, you will open tbo doors, that our toldiera may 
retire pleoiautly and iu order." 

Yourconnnittee have doomed it important to 
give this oiiiliiie of thi- " coiiftitution and ritual 
of the grand eiieaiupnient and ri-ginients of the 
Kaiisas li-gioii," as eoii.sliliitiiitj the secret or- 
ganization, piilltical niid military, in obedience 
to which the piiblie, d<■lill>Il^ll•at'ionH have been 
made to subvert the uulhority of the Territorial 
government established by Coii(jress, by setting 
up a State governinent, either with or without 
the assent of t'luigress, as circtmistniiees should 
determine. The endorsement of this military 
organization, and the recommindntiou by the 
15ig Springs eonveiitiim for ''the prucurenient 
and preparation of arms," aeciunpnnii'd with 
the ilistinet declaration that " we will resist 
them [the laws enacted by the Kansas legisla- 
ttin-] lo a bloody issue, as soon as we ascertain 
that peaceable remedies shall fail, ami forcible 
resistance shall furnish any reasonable pros- 
pect of success," would seem to admit of no 
other interpretation tliiin that, in tlie event that 
the courts of jiistici- shall su.stain tiie validity 
of those laws, and Congriss shall refuse to utl- 
mit Kansas as a State with the constitution to 
be formed at Topeka, they will set up an inde- 
pendent govemmeut iu detiance of the federal 
authority. 

Tlu; same purpose is clearly indicated by the 
other proceedings of this convention, in which 
it is declared tiiat " we with scorn repuiliate 
the election-law, so called," and nominate Gov- 
ernor Reeder for Congress, to be voted for on a 
different day from that authorized bv law, at 
an election to be held by judges and clerks not 
appointed in pursuance of any legal authority, 
and not to be sworn by tiny person auth<jrized 
by law to administer oaths ; and the returns to 
be mtide, aud result }iroclaimed, and eertiticate 
granted, in a mode aud by persons not permitted, 
to perform these acts by any law, in or out of the 
Territory. 

In accepting the nomination. Governor Rccder 
addressed the convention as follows ; aud, among 
other things, said: 

'• In giving him this nomination in this manner, 
they had strengthened his arms to do their work, and, 
in return, he would now pledge to them a steady, un- 
flinching |iertinacity of purpo.se, never-tiring industry, 
dogged perseverance, and, in all the abilities with 
which God had endowed him. to the righting of their 
wrongs, and the final triumph of their cause. Ha 
believed, from the circumstances which had for the last 
eight months surrounded him, and which had. at the 
same time, placed in his possession manv facts, and 
bound him, heart and soul, to the oppressed voters of 
Kansas, that he could do much towards obtaining a 
redress of their grievances. 

" He said that, day by day a crisis was coming upon 
us ; that, in after-times, this would be to posterity a 
turning-point, a marked period, as are to us the open- 
ing of toe Kevolution, the adoption of tue Declaiation 
of Independence, and the era of the alien and sedi- 
tion laws ; that we should take each carefully, so that 
each be a step of progress, and so that no violence bo 
done to the tie which binds the American people to- 
gether. Ue alluded to the unprecedented tyranny 
under which we are and have been ; and said that, if 
any one supposed that iustiluiions were to be im- 
posed by force upon a free and enlightened people, 
they never knew, or had forgotten, the history of our 
fathers. American citizeu.i bear in their brta-ts too 
much of the spirit of other and trying days, and have 
lived too long amid the blessings of liberty, to sub- 
mit to oppression from any quarter: and the man 
who having once been free, cnuld tamely submit to 
tyrannv. was fit to be a Slave. 

" He urged the Free-State men of Kansas to forget 
all minor issues, and pursue deteimiuedly the one 
great iibj>ct, never swerving, but steadily pressing on, 
as did the wise men who tollowed the star to the 
manger, looking back only for fresh encoumgement. 
Ho counseled that peaceful resistance be made to the 
tyrannical and unjust laws of the spurious legislature; 



106 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



that appeals to the courts, to the ballot-box, and to 
Congress, be mii'le for relief from this oppreBsive load; 
that violence sliould be ileprecated as long as a single 
hope of penc'-able redress remained ; but if, at last, all 
these should fail — if, in the proper tribunals, there is 
no hope for our dearesf rights, outraged and profaned 
^if we are still to suffer, that corrupt men may leap 
harvests watered bv our tears — then there is cue 
more chance for justice. God has provided, in the 
eternal frame of things, redress for every wrong ; and 
tliere remains to us still the steady eye and the strong 
arm, and we must conquer, or mingle the bodies of 
the oppressors wiih those of the oppressed upon the 
soil Mhich the Declaration of Independence no longer 
protects. Bui he was not at all apprehensive that 
such a crisis would ever arrive. lie believed that jus- 
tice might be found far short of so dreadful an ex- 
tremity ; and, even should an appeal to arms come, it 
was his opinion, that if we are well prepared, that mo- 
ment the victory is won." 

In pursuance of the recommendation of the 
mass meeting held at Lawrence on the 14th of 
August, and endorsed by the convention held at 
the Big Springs on the 5th and 6th of September, 
a convention was held at Topeka on the 19th 
and 20th of September, at which it was deter- 
mined to hold another convention at the same 
place on the fourth Tuesday of October, for the 
purpose of forming a constitution and State 
government; and to this end such proceedings 
were had as were deemed necessary for giving 
the notices, conducting the election of dele- 
gates, making the returns, and assembling the 
convention. With regard to the regularity of 
these proceedings, your committee see no ne- 
cessity for further criticism than is to be found 
in the fact that it was the movement of a politi- 
cal party instead of the whole body of the peo- 
ple of Kansas, conducted without the sanction 
of law, and in defiance of the constituted au- 
thorities, for the avowed purpose of overthrow- 
ing the territorial government established by 
Congress. 

The constitutional convention met at Topeka 
on the fourth Tuesday of October, and organized 
by electing Col. J. H. Lane president, who, in 
returning his acknowledgments for the honor, 
repudiated the validity of the territorial legisla- 
ture and its acts in these words : 

" Gentlemen of the convention : For the position 
assigned me, accept my thanks. You have met, gen- 
tlemen, on no ordinaiy occasion, to accomplish no 
ordinary purpose. Yuu are the first legal representa- 
tives the real settlers of Kansas have ever had. You 
comprise the first legally-elected representative body 
ever assembled in the Teriitory," etc. 

"Friday, Oclober 26.— Mr Smith offered the fol- 
lowing resolution, instructing the standing commit- 
tees : 

" Resolved, That the various committees of this 
convention be, and they are hereby, instructed to 
frame their work, having in view an immediate or- 
ganization of a State government " 

" October 30.— In the evening session the debates 
ran high upon Mr. Smith's resolution in reference to 
an immediate State organization. The mover of the 
resolution was in favor of electing State officers at 
once, lie would advise no hesitation , he would pre- 
sent a bold front, and waver not at all. The Territory 
was without laws ; life and property were unprotected. 
The territorial government had broken down. He 
would not leave it an hour for the action of Congress 
after an application for admission, but would Bet up 
an independent form of government," etc. 

Mr, Emery said : 

"Now, Mr. Chairman, what does this resolution 
contemplatel What is proposed to be done? It first 
proposes to supersede the pre.sent weak and inefficient 
territorial govsrninent, and hence it enunciates the 
fundamental iilea of the constitutional movement. 
Ay, it does more. It proposes to prove into a fact the 
leading idea of the Declaration of Independence, the 
highest human authority in American politics, which 
is this : whenever any form of government becomes 
destructive of the ends for which it was instituted, it 
is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to 



institute a new government. It proposes to force 
theories of human rights into facts, to practically ap- 
ply this great principle to the wants and the necessi- 
ties of the down-trodden people of Kanjias. I do not 
question this liiiht of tlie people, and certainly no 
gentleman on this floor will disagree with me. If he 
does, he occupies a most extraordinary position, and 
consistency would suggest that he withdraw from this 
body. No, when we say that we will take measures to 
supersede and render unnecessary that //(!>;§■ now ex- 
tended over us called a territorial government — when 
we say and maintain that we have a right guaranteed 
by the Constitution, to have a form of government 
resting on our own consent and free will, we are only 
doing what, as American citiztns, we have a right to 
do ; we only propose to carry out the doctrine, much 
abused and grossly misrepresented as it has been — I 
mean the doctrine of squatter sovereignty, under which 
we are assembled here today, and in pursuance of the 
principles of which we hope to extricate ourselves 
from our present unhappy condition." 

It is but just to state, that in another part of 
this same speech, Mr. Emery declared himself 
opposed to an immediate election " under the 
new constitution, and an immediate session of 
the general assembly, when all the wheels of 
State government shall be put in motion, iire- 
spective of the action of Congress, upon due ap- 
plication for admission. Mr. E. presented his 
objections to the position of Mr. Smith, and 
maintained the views above indicated. He 
contended that, inasmuch as the Territorial form 
of government was recognized by the Supreme 
Coiu-t of the United States, and hence a legal 
form of government, no other government could 
be substituted so long as that was in existence, 
without risking the most serious consequences, 
to say the least." 

In reply to the advocates of immediate State 
organization, Mr. Delahay, of Leavenworth, 
said : 

" Under the defined rights of squatter sovereignty, 
as enunciated by the Kansas-Nebraska act, it seems 
reasonable that the people have the right to take upon 
themselves the burdens of a government, but I ques- 
tion the right of the people of Kansas to organize a 
new government if its authority is to come in conflict 
with that ol the government created by Congress. 
The gentleman from Lawrence [Colonel Lane] has 
assumed as a fundamental position, in advocating an 
immeoiate State organization, that neither govern- 
m-nt nor local law exists in this Territory. Sir, 
I must dissent from that position. I deny, Mr. 
Chairman, that a Territorial government can be le- 
gally abolished by the election of another govern- 
ment. I hold, on the contrary, and I think that my 
position would be supported by our highest legal au- 
thorities, that the power of a Territorial government 
ceases only by the enactment of the body which crea- 
ted it ; in other words, that the government and 
laws of Kansas can be abolished by Congress alone, 
and are beyond the reach of this Territory, or any- 
other power. I do not pretend to deny that, as all civil 
power is derived from the people, they have the moral 
right to abolish unjust laws, or to overthrow obnoxious 
governments by force; but I do question the expedi- 
ency of effecting a reform in Kansas by any overt act 
of rebellion. For I must confess, Mr. Chairman, 
while I cast not the shadow of suspicion on the mo- 
tives of the advocates of this measure, that from the 
point of view from which I regard this question, it 
appears to me to be an act of rebellion." 

Your committee have made these voluminous 
extracts from the best authenticated reports 
which they have been able to obtain of the 
proceedings of the convention, for the purpose 
of showing that it was distinctly understood on 
all :^idt•s that the adoption of the proposition for 
organizing the State government, before the as- 
sent of Congress for the admission of the State 
shoidd be obtained, was a decision in favor of 
repudiating the laws, and overthrowing the Ter- 
ritorial government in defiance of the authority 
of Congress. By this decision as incorporated 
into the schedule to the constitution, the vote on 
the ratitlcatiou to the constitution was to be held 
on the 15th of Pecember, 1855, and the election 



Tin: KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



107 



for all Stntc ofticf ra on tlic Ihinl Tuosday of Jiin- ' 
uaiv, 18.jG. TLo third section of the schedule is 

us tdlloWS ; 

" Tlie ({'""eral asBombly i<lmll meet on tho 4tli j 
day of March, A. D. lS6tJ«at the city of ToptUa, lU 
lU in., ftt which tunc ami pliici- the governor, iicuten- 
ant-Kovoniiir, Bfcrotury of stiUc, juiIkim of BU|ireme ' 
court, triMsuror. au'lilor, Btiite printer, reporter. I 
and clerk olHupremo court, and iittoriiey-geueriil, Hhall , 
appear, tiilvo iho oath of olTico. and enter upon the j 
di-ii-hHrRe c(f the dulioH of tlieir renpectivo oflices uu | 
der this conslituiii'n; and hhall continue in ollieo in 
the same manner, autl duiinK the same period, tliey 
wuul 1 lirtvc di'uo had tbey been elected ou tho lirBt \ 
Monday iu August, A. D. 1S50." i 

Tho flcftioiis for all tlicso ofllccr.s won- held 
at the tiiiH' fpcciticil ; anil on t\u- fdiirtli day of 
tlio present month, the new j;overnnient wa.s to 
have heeu put in operation, in conlliet with 
the Territorial j^overnnient establi.-ihed by C<>n- 
trre.-ss, and tor the avowed purpose ol" .suhvertinj^ 
and overtlirowinir 'he same, without reference 
to the aetiiui of ('(Uii^ress upon their applictt- 
tion for admission into tho Union. _ i 

Your couimittiMT are not aware of ftny case in 
the history of our own country, which can_ be 
fairly cited as an example, mueli less a justifica- ' 
tiou," for these extraordinary proceedinj^'s. Cases 
have occurred in whicli the inhabitants of jiar- 
ticular Ten-itories have been permilted to form 
constitutions, and take the initiatory steps for t lie 
organization of State governments, jirejiaratory 
to their ftdmisgion into the Union, without ob- 
taining tho previous assent of Congress ; uut . 

IN KVKKY INSTANCE THE PKOCKKDING HAS 
ORIGI.NATED WITH, AND BKKN CONDUCTED IN 
BUnoliniXATION TO, THK AUTHOHITY OF THE LO- 
CAT, GO\ KKN.MENTS ESTAni.lsHED O li RtCOO- 
NIZED UY THE GOVEKN.MENT OF THE UNITED 

States. Jliehigan, Arkansas, Florida, and Cali- 
fornia, are sometimes cited as cases in point. 
Michigan was erected into a Territ(n-y in i)ur- 
suance of the ordinance of the 13th of July, l7cS7, 
as recognized anil cairied into effect by acts of 
Congress subsequent to the adoption of the 
Federal Constitution. In that ordinance it was 
provided that tiie Territory northwest of the 
Ohio river should be divided into not less than 
three nor more than tive States ; " and, when- 
ever any of said States shall have si.xty thou- 
sand free inhabitants therein, such State shall 
be adniittt'd, by its delegates, into the Congress 
of the United States on an equal footing with 
the original States in all respects whatever, 
and shall be at liberty to form a permanent con- 
stitution and State govennnent." 

In pursuance of this provision of their organic 
law, tho legislature of the Territory of Mieliigan 
passed an act providing for a convention of the 
people to form a constitution and State govern- 
ment, which was accordingly done in obedience 
to the laws and constituted authorities of the 
TeiTitory. The legislature of the Territory of 
Arkansas, having ascertained by a census that 
the Territory contained about tifty-one thousand 
eight hundred inhabitants, at a time when the 
ratio of representation in Congress awarded one 
representative to each forty-seven thousand 
seven hundred inhabitants, passed an act au- 
tliorizing the people to form a constitution and 
ask for admission into the Union, as they sup- 
posed they had a right to do under the treaty 
ai'quiriiig the TeiTitory from France, which 
guarantied their admission as soon as nuiy be 
consistent with the Federal Constitution. Upon 
this point your committee adopt the legal opin- 
ion of the Attorney-General of the United States, 
(B. F. Butler,) as expressed in the following ex- 
tract : 

" But I am not prepared to say that all proccedingg 
OD thi.i suliject ou the part of the citizens of Arkan- 
sas, will be illegal. They, undoubtedly, possess the 



ordinary priTllegeH and immonitios of citizens of the 
United Stntei. Among these, !•< tho right to aimemble 
and to petition tho government for thu redrvnn of 
grievance^ ; in the exercise of this riglit. Uie inhabit- 
ants of Arkannas may peaceably meet toj;ether lo 
primary aaBumblies. or in conventions clioseu by such 
ansemblieg, for the purpo.iie of petitioning Cungresa to 
abrogate the Terriiotuil government, and to udmlt 
them into the Union ua an indopondint i*late. The 
particuhir form whicli they may give to th'ir petition 
cannot be material, so long as they conlloe tlumHelvea 
to the mere right of petitioning, and cuoiluct all their 
proceedings in a peaceable manner. Audas ilic ponerof 
Congress over the whole subject is phnary and nnlim- 
ited they may accptaoy constitutnin.lmwever friuned, 
which in their judgment meets ilie sci ge of tho peo- 
ple to be alfected by it. If, therefore, the ciiizi'n.<) of 
Arkansas think proper to accompany tbeir p<'tition 
with a written constitution, framed and agn-cd on by 
their primary assemblies, or by a convention of dele- 
gates chosen by such aHSemhIies, I perceive no legal 
objection to their power to do so, nor to any measure 
which may be taken to collect the a-Mise of the people 
in respect to it ; provided, alwavs. that such moasures 
bo commenced and prosecuted in a peaceable rannner, 
in strict subordination to tho existing Territorial gov- 
ernment, and in entire subserviency to the power of 
Congress to adopt, reject, or disregard them at their 
pleasure. 

"It is. however, very obvious, that all m>-asure9 com- 
menced and p'owcuted with a de.sign to subvert the 
Territorial govorninent, and to estaiilish and put in 
force in its place a new government, without the con- 
sent of Congress, will bo unlawiul. The laws estab- 
lishing the I'erritorial government mu^t coniinue in 
force uii'il abrogated ijy Congrrss; and, in the mean 
time, it will be the duty of the governor, and of all 
the Territorial olHcera. aa well as of the President, to 
take care that they are faithfully executed." 

On the lllh day of January, 18.39, a commit- 
tee of the constitutional convention of Florida 
addressed a memorial to Congress, in which 
they state that, in 1837, tho Territorial council 
j passed a law submitting to the people tho c^ues- 
j tion of "State" or ''Territory," to be decided 
at the election of delegates to Congress in the 
month of I^Iay of that year; that a decided ma- 
jority of the suffrages given at that election 
was in favor of " .State ;" that tho legislative 
council of 1838, in obedience to tho expressed 
wishes of the people, enacted a law authoriz- 
ing the holding ot a convention to form and 
adopt a State constitution ; that the conven- 
tion assembled on the 3d of December, 1838, 
and continued in session until the 11th of Janu- 
ary, 1839 : and that, on behalf of tho people of 
Florida, they transmit the " constitution, or 
form of government," and ask for admission into 
the Union. It is also stated iu the memorial 
that in 183S a census of the Territory wa3 
taken, in obedience to a law pas.^ed by the Ter- 
ritorial council, and that this census, although 
taken during the ravages of Indian hostilities, 
when a large portion of the inhabitants could 
not be found at home, showed an aggregate 
population of forty-eiglit thousand twoliunarcd 
and twenty-three persons, which tho memorial- 
ists insisted furnished satisfactory assurance of 
a sufficient population to entitle them to admis- 
sion, according to tho treaty acquiring tho 
country from Spain, and the then ratio of repre- 
sentation, which awarded a member of Congress 
to each 47,700 inhabitants. Congress failing to 
yield its assent to the admission of Florida for 
more than six years after this constitution was 
formed and application made, the people of Flo- 
rida, during all that period, remained loyal to tho 
Territorial government, and obedient to its laws, 
and did not assume tho right to supersede the 
existing government by putting into operation 
a State government until the assent of Congress 
was obtained in 18-1.5. 

The circumstances connected with the forma- 
tion of thoconstitution and State goviniiiicnt of 
Cailtoriiia are peculiar. During Iho Mexican 
war the country was conquered and occupied by 



108 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



our troops, niul the civil government administer- 
ed by the military authorities under the war- 
power. Aeeurding to an official communication 
of General Persifer F. Smith, acting governor of 
California, to a committee of citizens of San 
Francisco, under date of March 27, 1849, with- 
holding his "recognition and concurrence" in 
their proposition " to organize a legislative as- 
sembly, and to appoint judges and other niiuis- 
terial oiBcers, and to enact suitable laws to es- 
tablish principles of justice and equity, and to 
give protection to life, liberty, and property," it 
appears that the President of the United States 
(Mr. Pdlk) and his cabinet ofiicially promulga- 
ted the tlillowing opinions as the decision of the 
Executive on the points stated : 

1st. That at the conclusion of the treaty with 
Mexico, on the 30th of May, 1848, the military 
government existing in California was a govern- 
ment de facto. 

2nd. Tliat it, of necessity, continue until Con- 
gress provide another; because, if it cease, an- 
archy must ensue : thus inferring that no power 
but Congress can establish any government. 

It also appears, from the proclamation of 
General Riley, acting governor, to the people 
of California, dated June 3d, 1849, that a gov- 
ernment de facto was constituted as follows : 

"A brief summary of the organization of the present 
government may not be uninteresting. It consists — 
First, of a governor appointed by the supreme govern- 
ment ; in default of such appointraeut, tbe office is 
temporarily vested in the comniauding military oifioer 
of the department. The powers and duties of the gover- 
nor are of a limited character, but fully defined and 
pointed out bv the laws. Second, a secretary, whose du- 
ties and powers are atso properly defined. Third, a terri- 
torial or departmental legislature, with limited powers 
to pass laws of a local character. Fourth, a s-uperior 
court (tribunal superior) of the Territory, consisting 
of four judges and a fiscal. Fifth, a prefect and sub- 
prefect for each district, who are charged with the 
preservation of the public order and the execution of 
the laws ; their duties correspond, in a great measure, 
with those of diNtrict marshals and sherilfs. Sixth, a 
judge of first instance, for each district. This office is, 
by a custom, not inconsistent with the laws, vested 
in the first alcalde of the district. Seventh, al- 
caldes, who have concurrent jurisdiction among thom- 
Belves in the same district, but are subordinate to the 
higher judicial tribunals. Eighth, local justices of 
the peace. Ninth, ayuntamientos, or town councils. 
The powers and functions of all these officers are ful- 
ly defined in the laws of the country, and are almost 
identical with those of the corresponding officers in 
the Atlantic and Western States." 

On the 3d of April, 1849, President Taylor ap- 
pointed Thomas Butler King agent, for the pur- 
pose of conveying important instructions to our 
military and naval commanders who were in- 
trusted with the adminisb'ation of the civil gov- 
ernment de facto in California, and to make 
known to the people his opinions and wishes in 
respect to the formation of a constitution and 
State government preparatory to their admis- 
sion iuto the Union. What these opinions and 
wishes were, are distinctly stated by the Presi- 
dent iu the following extract from hia special 
message to Congress on the 23d of January, 
1850: 

" I did not hesitate to espreBS to the people of those 
Territories my desire that each Territory should, if 
prepared to com]ily with the requisitions of the Con- 
stitution of the ifnited States, foim a plan of a State 
Constitution, ai.d submit the same to Congress, with 
a prayer for admission into the Union as a State; but 
I did not anticipate, suggest, or authorize the estab- 
lishment of any such government without the assent 
of Congress ; nor did I authorize any government- 
agent or oDio-r to interfere with, or e.xercise any in- 
fluence or control over the election of delegates, or 
over any convention, in making or nrndifj-ing their 
domestic institutions, or any of the provisions of their 
proposed Constitution. On the contrarj', the instruc- 
tioDB by my orders weret that all measures of domestic 



policy, adopted by the people of California, ranst 
originate solely with themselves ; that, while the 
Executive of the United States was desirous to protect 
them in the formation of any government republican 
in its character, to be, at the proper time, submitted 
to Congress, yet it was to ♦e distinctly understood that 
the plan of such a government must, at the same 
time, be the result of their own deliberate choice, and 
originate with themselves, without the interference 
of the E.Kecative." 

On the 30th of June, 1850, General Riley, in 
his capacity as civil governor of California, re- 
ports to the government at Washington that : 

" On the 3rd instant, I issued my proclamation to the 
people of Californiiv, defining what was understood to 
be the legal position of affairs here ; and pointing out 
the course ii was deemed advisable to pursue in order 
to procure a new political organization, better adapted 
to the character and present condition of the country. 
The course indicated in my proclamati'm will be 
adopted by the people, almost unanimously ; and 
there is now little or no doubt that the convention 
will meet on the first of September next, and form a 
State Constitution, to be submitted to Congress in 
the early part of the coming session. 

"A few prefer a Territorial organization; but I 
think a majority will be in favor of a State govern- 
ment, so as to avoid all further difficulties respecting 
the question of Slaverj'. This question will probably 
be submitted, together with the Constitution, to a 
direct vote of the people, in order that the wishes of 
the people of California may be clearly and fully ex- 
pressed. Of course, the Constitution or plan of a Ter- 
ritorial government formed by this convention, can 
have no legal force till approved by Congress." 

On the 12th day of October, General Riley, 
acting governor, issued the following proclama- 
tion : 

" To the People of California. 

"The delegates of the people, assembled iu conven- 
tion, have formed a constitution which is now pre- 
sented for your ratification. The time and ui.auner 
of voting on this constitution, and of h'ddmg the first 
general election, are clearly set forth in the schedule. 
The whole subject is, therefore, left for your unbiased 
and deliberate consideration. 

"The prefect (or person exercising the fi^nctionS 
of that office), of each district will designate the 
places for opening the polls, and give due notice of 
the election, in accordance with the provisions of the 
constitution and schedule. 

" The people are now called upon to form a govern- 
meni for themselves, and to designate nich ofticers as 
they de.sire to make and execute the laws. That their 
choice may be wisely made, and that the government 
so organized may secure the permanent welfare and 
happiness of the people of the new State, is the sincere 
and earnest wish of the pre-ent executive, who, if the 
constitution be ratified, will with pleasure surrender 
his powers to whomsoever the people may designate 
as his successor. 

" Criven at Montere.v, California, this twelfth day 
of October, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred 
and forty-nine. 

" B. Riley, 
Brevet Brig. Gen. U. S. A., and Governor of Cali- 
fornia. 
" Official : H. W. Halleck, 

Brevet Captain, and Secretary of Slate." 

These facts and official papers prove oonclii- 
sively that the proposition to the people of Cali- 
fornia, to hold a convention and organize a State 
government, originated with, and that all the pro- 
ceedings were had in subordination to, the au- 
thority and supremacy of the existing local gov- 
ernment of the Territory, under the advice, and 
with the approval, of the executive government 
of the United States. Hence the action of the 
people of California in forming their constitution 
and State government, and of Congress in ad- 
mitting the State into the Union, cannot be cited, 
with the least show of justice or fairness, in jus- 
tilication or palliation of the revolutionary move- 
ments to subvert the gdveniment which Con- 
gress has established in K.-uisas. 

Nor can the insurgents derive aid or comfort 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



109 



from tlio \n.sltion ncsiiincil by tiflicr party to 
the unl'ortii'.iatc coiitmvi'rsv wliicli arose in tli<- 
State of IvIiimI.' 1.-1,111.1, n {rw years (if,'o, when 
an elTort was nuule to ehunu'e the or|,'auie law, 
and set up a Stat.' i^overanu-nt in opposition to 
the one then in existence, under the <liartei* 
grunted by Ciiarles the Second of En,!j;land. 
Those who were cnt,'nj?ed in tliat unsuccesKtul 
8trus;rli' assumed, as fundiimeiital truths in our 
system of r^overnment, tliat Khode I>lund was 
a Soverei;i:n State in all that pertained to h<'r ; 
internal atf.iirs; that the ri^'ht to ehani^e their 
organic law was an essential attribute o( sove- 
reu'nty ; that, inasmuch as the eliarti-r under 
whii'h" the existing govermnent was organized [ 
containi'd no provi.-iou for changing or amend- 
ing the same, and the people had not delef^ated 
that rifjht to the lej;islature or any other tribunal, ] 
it followeil, as a matter of course, that they had 
retained it, and were at liberty to exercise it in I 
such manner as to them should seem wise, just, [ 
and proper. 

Without deeming it necessary to express any 
opinion on this occasion, in relbrence to the 
merits of that controversy, it is evident that the ! 
jiriiH'iples upon wliich it was conducted are not 
luvolvi-d ill the revolutionary struir;i,-le now going 
on in Ivansas; t'or the reason, that the sove- 
rei;;iity of a Territiiry remains in abeyance, 
6uspend.-d in the United State.s, in trust for the 
peoph', until they shall be admitted into the 
Union us u State. In the mean time, they are 
entitled to enjoy and exercise all the privileges 
and rights of selfgoverument, in subordination 
to the Constitution of the United States, and in 
obedienee to their organic law passi'd by Con- 
gress in pursuunc(.' of that instrument. These 
rights and privilejres are all derived from the 
Constitution, through the act of Congress, and 
must be exercised und enjoyed iu subjection to 
all the limitations and restrictions which that 
Constitution imposes. Hence, it is clear that 
the people of the Ten-itory havi' no inherent 
soverei<.jn right, under the Constitution of the 
United :itates, to annul the laws and resist the 
authority of the territorial i^overninent which 
Congress has established iu obedience to the 
Constitution. 

In tracing, step by step, the origin and history 
of these Kansas difficulties, your Committee 
have been profoundly impressed with the sigiii- 
ticant fact, that eai-li one has resulted from an 
attempt to violate or'fircumvent the principles 
anil iirovisions of the act of Congress for the or- 
ganization of Kansas and NebraslvU. The leading 
idea and fundamental principle of the Kansas- 
Nebraska act, as expressed in the law itself, 
was to Iccivii the actual settlers and bona-Jide in- 
habitants of ench Territory " perfectly free to 
form and rcgnlate their domestic institutions in 
their own irni/, subject only to the Constitution 
of the United .bVfffcs-." While this is declared to 
bo " the true intent and meaning of the act," 
those who were opposed to allowmi^ the people 
of the Territory, preparatory to their admission 
into the Union us a State, to decide the Slavery 
question for themselves, failing to accomplish 
their purpose in the halls of Congress, and under 
the authority of the Constitution, immediiitely 
resorted, in their respective States, to nnusual 
and e.vtruordinary means to control the political 
destinies and shape the domestic institutions of 
Kansas, in defiance of the wishes, and regardless 
of the rif^hts, of the people of that Territory, as 
guaranteed by their organic law. Combinations, 
m one section of the Union, to sthnulate an un- 
natural and false system of emigration, with the 
view of controlling the elections, and forcing the 
domestic institutions of the Territory to assimi- 
late to those of the iion-slaveholdini; States, were 
followed, as might have been foreseen, by the 



use of Bimilar meann in the Blnvoholdinp States, 
to produce dire<-tly the opposite result. To those 
causes, and to tlie"-e alone, in the opinion of your 
Committee, may lie traced Iho oriirin and pro- 
(.'resrt of all the" emit roversies ami (listurbaneeo 
with wliich Kansas is now convulsed. 

If these unfortunate troubles have rc«ulted, aa 
natural eonse(iueiie»>H, from unauthorized and im- 
proper schemes of foreign interforence with the 
internal atluii-s and doini'stic concerns of the 
Territory, it is a|(|mreiit that the n.-medy must 
be souiiiil in a strut uilherenee to tlio prineildes, 
and ri„'id enforcement of the ]irovlsioiis, ot tho 
or;4anic law. In this connection, yoiirCoininittee 
feel sincere satislaction in commeiidiiiL,' tho ni(!S- 
sages anil j)roclamation of the I'resident of tho 
United Stales, in which we liave the ^,'ratifyiiig 
assurance that the supremacy of the laws will bo 
maintained; that rebellion will bo crushed; that 
insiirreetion will bo Huppres.sed; that a;j:;;ressivo 
intrusion for the purpose of deciiling elections, 
or any other purpose, will be rcpiiUed ; that un- 
authorized intermeddling' in the local concerns 
of the Territory, both from adjoining and distant 
States, will be prevented; that the fede-ral and 
local laws will bo vindicated aj^ainst all attempts 
of organized resistance; and that the people of 
the Territory will be protected in the establish- 
ment of their own institutions, undisturbed by 
encroachments from without, and in the full en- 
joyment of the rights of selfjrovernment assured 
to them by the Constitution and tho or;.;anie law. 

In view of these assurances, given under tho 
conviction that the existing laws confer all tho 
authority necessary to the performance of tiicso 
important duties, and that the whole available 
force of the United States will be e.\erted to tho 
extent required for their performance, your Com- 
mittee rejiose in entire eontideiice tliat peace, 
and security, and law, will prevail in Kansas. 
If any further evidence were necessary to prove 
that all the collisions and ditliculties in Kansas 
have been produced by the schemes of foreign 
interference which have been developed in this 
report, in violation of the principles ami in eva- 
sion of the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska 
act, it may be found iu the fact that in Nebraska, 
to which the emigrant-aid societies did not ex- 
tend their operations, aud into which the stream 
of emigration was permitted to flow in its usual 
and natural channels, nothing has occurred to 
disturb the peace and harmony of the Ten-it.ny, 
while the principle of selfgoverument, in obe- 
dience to the Constitution, has had fair plaj', 
aud is qnietly working out its legitimate results. 

It now only remains for your Committee to 
respond to tho two specific reeomineiulations of 
the President, in his special message. They are 
as follows : 

" Tbis, it seems to me, can be best accomplishtd by 
providing that, whea the inhabi'ants of Kansas may 
ile-iiro it, Hiul shall be of suffli^ient numiiiTS to consti- 
tute a State, a convcntiou of delegatt-a, duly elected 
by the qualified voters, shall a-.sfiuble to frame a 
CDiistitution, and thus prepare, through rei,'ular and 
lawful means, fur its admission into the Uuiou as a 
Slate. I respectfully recommend tlie eu.actment of a 
law to that effect. 

" I rtciiranicud, also, that a special appropriation be 
made to defray any expense which m ly become requi- 
site in the e.xecution of the laws, or tlie m<iutcnance 
of public order iu the Territory of Kansas." 

In compliance with the first recommendation, 
your committee ask leave to report a liiU author- 
iziiij,' the legislature of the Territory to provide 
bv law for tlie election of delegates by the i)eople, 
aiid the assemblinj.; of a cimventiou to form a 
constitution and State government preparatory 
to their a.bnission i«to the Union on an equal 
footing' with the ori;,'Inal States, so soon as it shall 
appear, by a census to bo taken under the direo- 
tiou of the governor, by tho auUiority of tho legis- 



110 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. ' 



lature, that the Ten-itory contains ninety-three 
thousand four liundred and twenty inhabitants — 
that beinjjf tlie number required by the present 
ratio of n'i»resentation fur a member of Con- 
gress. 

In compliance with the other i-eeommendntion, 
your committee propose to offer to the appropria- 
tion bill an amendment appropriating such sum 
as shall be found necessary, by the estimates to 
be obtained, for the purpose indicated in the re- 
commendation of the President. 

All of which is respectfully submitted to the 
Senate by your committee. 



Mr. Collamer of Vermont, the minority 
member of said Committee, submitted the 
following 

MINORITY REPORT- 

Views of the minority of the Committee on Tcrri- 
toriex, (o ichom teas referred so much of the an- 
nual mexsarre of the President as relates to 
Territorial affairs, the message of the Presi- 
dent of ^2-l/h January in relation to Kansas 
Terriiort/, and the message of the President 
of the ISlh February, m answer to the resolu- 
tion of the Senate of the Ath February, rela- 
tive to affairs in Kansas. 
Thirteen of the present prosperous States of 
this Union passed through the period of appren- 
ticeship or pupilage of territorial training, under 
the guardianship of Congress, preparatory to 
assuming their proud rank of manhood as sove- 
reign and independent States. This period of 
their pupilage was, in every case, a period of the 
good offices of parent and child, in the kind rela- 
tionship sustained between the national and the 
Territorial government, and may be remem- 
bered with feelings of gratitude and pride. We 
have fallen on different times. A Territory of 
our government is now convulsed witli violence 
and discord, and the whole family of our nation 
is iu a state of exitement and an.xiety. The 
national executive power is put in motion, the 
army in requisition, and Congress is invoked for 
interference. 

In this case, as in all others of difficulty, it be- 
comes necessary to inquire what is the true cause 
of existing trouble, in order to apply effectiial 
cure. It is but temporary palliatives to deal with 
the external and more obvious manifestations 
and developments, while the real, procuring 
canse lies unattended to, and uncorrected, and 
unremoved. 

It is said that organized opposition to law ex- 
ists in Kansas. That, if existing, may probably 
be suppressed by the President, by the use of the 
army ; and so, too, may invasions bj' armed bodies 
from Missouri, if the "Executive be sincere in its 
efforts ; but when this is done, while the cause 
of trouble remains, the results will continue with 
renewed and increased developments of danger. 
Let us, then, look fairly and undisguisedly at 
this subject, iu its true character and history. 
Wherein does this Kansas Territory difi'er from 
all our other Territories, which have been so 
peacefully and successfully carried through, and 
been developed into the manhood of independent 
States ? Can that difference account for existing 
troubles ? Can that difterence, as a cause of trou- 
ble, be removed ? 

The first and groat point of difTcronco between 
the Territorial government of Kansas and that 
of the thirteen Territorial governments before 
mentioned, consists in the subject of Slavery — 
the undoubted cause of presMit trouble. 

The action of Congress iuTehition to all those 
thirteen Territories was conducted on a uniform 
and prudent principle, to wit: To settle, by a 



clear provision, the law in relation to the subject 
of slavery to be operative in the Territory, while 
it remained such ; not leaving it in any one of 
those cases to be a subject of controversy within 
the same, while in the plastic gristle of its youtli. 
This was done by Congress in the exercise of tho 
same power which moulded the form of their or- 
ganic laws, and appointed their executive and 
judiciary, and sometimes their legislative officer.-:; 
It was the power provided in the Constitution, iu 
these words: "Congress shall have power to 
dispose of and make all needful rules and re- 
gulations respecting the Territory or other pro- 
perty belonging to the United States." Settling 
the subject of Slavery while the country remain- 
ed a Territory, was no higher exercise of power 
in Congress than the regulation of the functions 
of the Territorial government, and actually ap- 
pointing its principal functionaries. This prac- 
tice commenced with this national government, 
and was continued, with uninterrupted uniform- 
ity, for more than sixty years. This practical 
contemporaneous construction of the constitu- 
tional power of this government is too clear to 
leave room for doubt, or opportunity for skepti- 
cism. The peace, prosperity, and success which 
attended this course, and the results which have 
ensued, in the formation and admission of the 
thirteen States therefrom, are most conclusive 
and satisfactory evidence, also, of the wisdom 
and prudence with which this power was exer- 
cised. Deluded must be that people who, in the 
pursuit of plausible theories, become deaf to the 
lessons, and blind to the results, of their own ex- 
perience. 

Let us next inquire by what rule of uniformity 
Congress was governed, in the exercise of this 
power of determining the condition of each Ter- 
ritory as to Slavery, while remaining a Territory, 
as manifested in those thirteen instances. An 
examination of our history will show that this 
was not done from time to time by agitation and 
local or party triumphs in Congress. The rule 
pursued was uniform and clear; and whoever 
may have lost by it, peace and prosperity have 
been gained. That rule was this: 

Where Slavery was actually existing in a 
country to any considerable or general extent, it 
was (though somewhat modified as to further im- 
portation in some instances, as in Mississippi and 
Orleans Territories) suffered to remain. The 
fact that it had been taken and existed there, was 
taken as an indication of its adaptation and local 
utility. Where Slavery did not iu fact exist to 
any appreciable extent, the same was, by Con- 
gress, expressly prohibited ; so that in either 
case the country settled up without difficulty or 
doubt as to the character of its institutions. In 
no instance was this difficult and disturbing sub- 
ject left to the people who had and who might 
settle iu the Territory, to be there an everlasting 
bone of contention, so long as the Territorial 
government should continue. It was ever re- 
garded, too, as a subject in which the whole 
country had an interest, and, therefore, improper 
for local legislation. 

And though whenever the people of a Territory 
come to form their own organic law, as an inde- 
dependent State, they would, either before or 
after their admission as a State, form and mould 
their institutions, as a sovereign State, in their 
own way, yet it must be expected, and has al- 
ways proved true, that the State has taken the 
character her pupilage has prepared her for, as 
well in respect to Slavery as in other respects. 
Hence, six of the thirteen States are free States, 
because Slavery was prohibited in them by Con- 
gress while Territories, to wit : Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Seven 
of the thirteen are slaveholding States, because 
Slavery was allowed in them by Congress while 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLR 



111 



they wore Trrriforion, to wit : Tennessee, Ala- | 
biima, MiKsmsippi, Florida, Louisianu, Aikan«ii8 
and Missouri. ! 

On till! titli of Miircli, a. n. IWO, wiis passca 
by CoiiuTL-ss Ihi! act prepiirnlnJ-v to tlio aiimissioii 
ot the Sliilo of MiKsouii into tlie Tnioii. Miuh 
coiitrovoisy and disc-iission aioso on IliiMiuoKtiou 
wlK-tii.T a proliiliition of Slavery within said 
Stato sliouid lie insortod, and it resulted in this : 
that said State should bo admitted without such 
piohiliitioii, but tliat Slavery should he forcvrr 
■vroluiiilf.i in tlie rust of tliat <<)uiitry eeded to us 
by Kraiico IviiiR north ^ti"^ ;!!)' iiorlli latitude, 
and it was so done. This eontraet is known ha 
the .XJisxoiiri Coin promise. Under this arraii{,'e 
nieiil, Missouri was admitted as a slavelioldinjjj 
Stale, the same having been a slaveholdiiif,' Ter- 
ritory. Arkansas, south of the line, was lornied 
into a Territory, and Slavery allowi'd therein, 
and aflorwards'ndinittedfts a slaveholdiiif,' Slate. 
Iowa wa.-i luuilo a Territory, n<u-tli of tlie line, 
uiid, under the operation "f tlie law, was settled 
up without slaves, and admitted as n free State. 
The eountry now niakin;,' the Territories of 
Kansas and Nebraska, in 18-JO, was almost or 
entirely uninhabited, and lay north of said line, 
and whatever settlers entered the same before 
IS.'il dill so under that law, forever forbi<idiiig 
Slavery therein. 

lu 18.') 4 Congress passed an net establishing 
two new Territories — Nebraska and Kansas— in 
this region of eountry, where Slavery had been 
prohibited for more than thirty years; and, in- 
stead of leaving said law against Slavery in 
operation, or prohibiting or expressly allowing 
or establishing Slavery, Congress left the sub- 
ject in said Territories, to be discussed, agitated, 
and legislated on, from time to time, and the elec- 
tions in said Territories to be conducted with re- 
ference to that subject, from year to year, so 
long as they should remain Territories ; for, 
whatever laws might be passed by the Territo- 
ri;il legislatures on this subject, must be subject 
to change or repeal by those of the succeeding 
years. In most former Territorial governments, 
It was provided by law that their laws were sub- 
ject to the revision of Congress, so that they 
would be made with caution. In these Terri- 
tories that was omitted. 

The provisiiui in relation to Slavery in Ne- 
bra--<ku and Kansas is as follows : " The eighth 
Bcctiou of the act preparatory to the admission 
of Missouri into the Union (which being incon- 
sistent with the principle of non-intervention by 
Congress with Slavery in the States and Terri- 
tories, as required by the legislation of 1851), 
coinnionly called the compromise measures) is 
hereby declared inoperative ami void ; it being 
the true intent and meaning of this act not to 
legislate Slavery into said Territory or State, nor 
to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people 
thereof perferfli/ free to form and regulate their 
domestic institutions in their own way, subject 
only to the Constitution of the United Stale.-' : 
Provided, That nothing herein contained shall 
be construed to revive or put in f(U-ce any law 
or regulation which may have existed prior to 
the act of ()th March, IS'JO, either protecting, es- 
tablishing, prohibiting, or abolishing Slavery." 

Thus it was promulgated to the people of this 
wliolc country that here was a clear field for 
competition — an open course for the race of 
rival-hip i the goal of which was, the ultimate 
establi.-ihment of a sovereign State ; and the 
jirizc, the reward of everlasting liberty and its 
institutions on the one hand, or the periietuity 
of Slavery and its concomitants on the other. 
It is the obvious duty of this government, while 
this law continues, to see this manifesto faith- 
fully, and honorably, and honestly perlbrined, 
even though its particular supporters may 



see cause of u result unfavorable to their 

hiilies. 

It is further to bo obsen-ed, that in the per- 
fonnioico of this novel ex])erimeiit, it was pro- 
vided that all white men who beeaiiie inhabit- 
ants in Kansas were enlilleii to vote without 
regard to tlndr time nf residence, usually provid- 
ed in other Territories. Nor was this right of 
voting confined to American citizeiiK, but in- 
cluded all .such aliiiis as hn<l declared, or would 
declare, on nath their inteiilinn to bi-cdinc citi- 
zens. Thus was the procbiniiitiiui to the world 
to become inhabitants of Kaiisn^*, and enlist in 
this great eiiter])rise, by the force of iiumberH, 
by vote, to decide for it the great <|iie.stion. 
Was it to bo expected that this great proclama- 
tion fortho political tournament wouM be listen- 
ed to with indifVercnce and ai)atliy / Was it 
prepared and presented in that spirit ? Diil it 
relate to a subject on wliiili the people were 
coed or iiirlirt'erent ? A larg(! part of the jieople 
of this country hxdt on domestic Slavery as 
" only evil, and that continually," alike to mas- 
ter and to slave, and to the community ; to bo 
left alone to the niaiiagenient or enjoyment of 
the people of the States where it exists, but not 
to be extended, more especially a.s it gives, or 
may give, jiolitical supremacy to a minority of 
the'people of this eountry in "the United States 
government. On the other hand, many of the 
people of another part of the United States re- 
gard Slavery, if not in the abstract a blessing, 
at leost as now existing, a condition of society 
best for both white and black, while they exist 
together ; while others regard it as no evil^ but 
as the highest state of social condition. These 
consider that they cannot, with safety to their 
interests, permit political ascendancy to be 
largely in the hands of those unfriendly to this 
pcculinr institution. From these conflicting 
views, long and violent has been the contro- 
versy, and experience seems to show it inter- 
minable. 

Many, and probably a large majority of this 
nation, lovers of quiet, entertained the hope, 
that, after 1850, the so-called Compromise Mea- 
sures, even though not satisfactory to the Free 
States, would be kept by their su)iporters, and 
made by them what they were professeil to be, 
a finality on the subject of the extent and limita- 
tions of slave territory ; more especially Jitter the 
assurances contained in the Inaugural Address 
of President I'ierce. This hope wius fortified with 
the eonsi(leniti(ni that at that tune Congress had, 
by dilfereut provisions, settled by law the con- 
dition of Freedom or Slavery for all the territory 
of the United States. These hopes have been 
disappointed, and from this very iirovision for 
repose has been extracted a princtple for disturb- 
ing the condition of things on which its founda- 
tion of finality rested— that is, the permanence 
and eoutinuance of the then existing condition of 
legal provisions. The establishment of the terri- 
torial govermiients for Utah and Xew-.Me.\ico, 
without a prohibition of Slavery, was sustained 
by many on the ground that no such provision 
was required for its exclusion, as the condition 
of the country and its laws were a suflicient bar- 
rier ; and therefore they sustained them, because 
it would complete the series, and finish the pro- 
visions as to Slavery in all our territory, and 
make an end of controversy on that subject : yet, 
in 1854, it was insisted by tlie friend.^ and sup- 
porters of the laws of ISoO, and it is actually as- 
serted in the law e^ablishing the territorial gov- 
ernment of Kansas, that the laws for New-Mexico 
and Utah, being of the Compromise Measures, 
adopt and contain Mprivciv/c utterly at war with 
their great and professed object of finality ; and 
that, instead of completing and ending the provi- 
sions of cougreosiouid action for the Territories 



112 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



as to Slavery, it ronlly declared a principle wliich 
V7ixcltlcil all those wliere Slavery li.'id been pro- 
hibited, mid rendered it proper, and only proper, 
to declare such prohibitions all " inoprrative and 
void." The spirit and feeling whieh thus per- 
verted those Compromiste lawn, and made them 
the dircet instrument of renewed disturbance, 
could not be expected then to leave the result to 
the decision of the people of Kansas with entii'c 
inactivity and indifl'erence. 

The slavelioldiii!:,' States, in 1820, secured the 
admission of ^Missouri as a slaveliolding State, 
and all the region south of 30° 30' to the same 
purpose, by agreeing and enacting that all north 
of that lino should be forever free ; and by this 
they obtained only a suiRcient number of votes 
from the Free States, as counted with theirs, to 
adopt it. In 1850, they agreed that if New-Mexico 
and Utah were made Territories, without a pro- 
hibition of Slavery, it would, with the laws al- 
ready made for the rest of our territory, settle 
forever the whole subject. This proposition, for 
such a termination, also secured votes from the 
Free States, enough, with their own from the 
slaveholding States, to adopt it. In 1854, in utter 
disregard ot these repeated contracts, both these 
arrangements were broken, and both these com- 
promises disregarded, and all their provisions for 
freedom declared inoperative and void, by the 
vote of the slaveholding States, with a very few 
honorable exceptions, and a minorityof the votes 
of the Free States. After this extraordinary and 
inexcusable proceeding, it was not to be expected 
that the people of the slaveholding States would 
take no active measures to secure a favorable 
result by votes in the Territory of Kansas. Nei- 
ther could it be expected that the people of the 
Free States, who regarded the act of 1854 as a 
double breach of faith, would sit down and make 
no effort, by legal means, to correct it. 

It has been said that the repeal of this provision 
of the Missouri Compromise, and breach of the 
Compromise of 1850, should not be regarded as a 
measure of the slaveholding States, because it 
was presented by a Senator from a Free State. 

The actions or votes of one or more individual 
men cannot give character to, or be regarded as 
fixing a measure on, their section or party. The 
only true or honest mode of determining whether 
any measure is that of any section or party is, to 
ascertain whether the majority of that section or 
party voted for it. Now, a largo majority — in- 
deed, the whole, with a few rare exceptions — of 
the representatives from the slaveholding States 
voted for that repeal. On the other hand, a ma- 
jority of the representatives from the Free States 
/voted against it. 
/ This subject of Slavery in the Territories, 
which has violently agitated the country for 
many years, and which has been attemi^ted to be 
settled twice by compromise, as before stated, 
does not remain settled. The Missouri Com- 
\ \ promise and the supposed finality by the acts of 
' •> 1850, are scattered and dissolved by the vote of 
the slaveholding States ; and it is not to be dis- 
guised that this uncalled for and disturbing meas- 
ure has produced a spirit of resentment, from a 
feeling of its injustice, which, while the cause 
continues, will be difficult to allay. 

This subject, then, which Congress has been 
unable to settle iu any such Avay as the Slave 
States will sustain, is now turned over to those 
who have or shall become inhabitants of Kansas 
to arrange ; and all men are invited to partici- 
pate in the experiment, regardless of their charac- 
ter, political or religious views, or place of na- 
tivity. 

Now, what is the right an# the duty of the 
people of this country in relation to this matter ? 
Is it not the right of all who believe in the bless- 
ings of slaveliolding, and regard it as the best 



condition of society, either to go to Kansas as tn- 
hahitantit, and by their Voles to help settle this 
good condition of that Territory ; or if they can- 
not so go and settle, is it not their duty, by all law- 
ful menus in their power, to promote this object 
by inducing others like-minded to go ? This 
right becomes a duty to all who follow their con- 
victions. All who regard an establishment of 
Slavery in Kansas as best for that Territory, or 
as necessary to their own safety by the political 
weight it gives in the national government, 
should use all lawful means to secure that result ; 
and clearly, the inducing men to go there to be- 
come permanent inhabitants and voters, and to 
vote as often as the elections occur in favor of 
the establishment of Slavery, and thus control 
the elections, and preserve it a Slave State for- 
ever, is neither unlawful nor censurable. It is, 
and would be highly praisewrn'lhy and commenda- 
ble, because it is using lawful means to carry for- 
ward honest convictions of public good. All law- 
fully-associated effort to that end is equally 
commendable. Nor will the application of op- 
probrious epithets, and calling it propagaiidism, 
change its moral or legal character fi-om whatever 
quarter or source, official or otherwise, such epi- 
thets may come. Neither should they deter any 
man from peaceably performing his duty by fol- 
lowing his honest convictions. 

On the other hand, all those who have seen and 
realized the blessings of universal liberty, and be- 
lieve that it can only be secured and promoted by 
the prohibition of domestic Slavery, and that the 
elevation of honest industry can never succeed 
where servitude makes labor degrading, should, 
as iu duty bound, put forth all reasonable exer- 
tions to advance this great object, by lawful 
means, whenever permitted by laws of their coun- 
try. When, therefore, Kansas was presented, 
by law, as an open field for this experiment, and 
all were invited to enter, it became the right and 
duty of all such as desired, to go there as inhabit- 
ants for the purpose, by their numbers and by their 
votes lawfully cast, from time to time, to carry or 
control, in a legal way, the elections there for 
this object. This could only be lawfully effected 
by permanent residence, and continued and re- 
peated effort, during the continuance of the Ter- 
ritorial government, and permanently remaining 
there to form and preserve a Free-State constitu- 
tion. All those who entertained the same senti- 
ments, but were not disposed themselves to go, 
had the right and duty to use all lawful means to 
encourage and promote the object. If the pur- 
pose could be best effected by united efforts, by 
voluntary associations or corporations, or by 
State assistance, as proposed in some Southern 
States, it was all equally lawful and laudable. 
This was not the officious intermeddling with the 
internal afl'airs of another nation, or State, or the 
Territory of another people. The Territory is 
the property of the nation, and is, professedly, 
open to the settlement and the institutions of 
every part of the United States. If lawful means, 
so extensive as to be effectual, were used to peo- 
ple it with a majority of inhabitants opposed to 
Slavery, is now considered as a violation of, or 
an opposition to, the law establishing the Terri- 
tory, then the declarations and provisions of that 
law were but a premeditated delusion, which not 
only allowed such measures, hut actually invited 
them, by enacting that the largest number of the 
settlers should detennine the condition of the 
country; thus inviting efforts for numbers. Such 
an invitation must have been expected to pro- 
duce such efforts on both sides. 

It now becomes necessary to inquire what has 
in fact taken place. If violence has taken place 
as the natural, and, perhaps, unavoidable, conse- 
quences of the nature of the experiment, bringing 
into dangerous contact and collision infiamma- 



TUE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



113 



ble clfini'iits, it wiw (lie vice of ii inistiikou liiw, 
tintl iiiiincilialo inuasurcs mIiduIiI 1>o lakoii by 
Con^Mosrt to com cf such law. Il' force ami vio- 
loucc iiave liccii siitistitutcil for iioacdiil iiica«- 
uro8 thorc, le;,'al provisioii.s hIiouIiI Im- iiiado ami 
executcil to correct all tlio wroiij,' mich violence 
huH prodiiceil, ami to jircvciit tlicir leHiurreuce, 
and lliiis nooiro u fair fiiltilhnent of the experi- 
ment by jHiiccful nicanrt, as originally professed 
and i>icsciilid in the law. 

A succinct staleuicnt of tlio exercise and pro- 
gress of the material events in Kansas is this : 
After tlio passH^je of tills law, establishin;; tin- 
Territory of Kansas, a lar;;o body of settlers rap- 
idly entered into said Territory with a view to 
lieruianent inlialiittincy therein. iMost of these 
were I'roni the Free States of the West and North, 
who probably intended by their yotes and inllu- 
euco to establish there a Free State, ajfreeablo to 
the law which invited them. Some part of those 
from the Xorllurn States had been encouruj^'ed 
and aided in this enterprise by the Kmi;,'rant Aid 
Soeiety formed in Massachusetts, wliieii put 
forth some exertions in this laudable object, l)y 
open and public measures, in providinjj facilities 
for transportation to all peaceable citizens who 
desired to become permauent settlers in said Ter- 
ritory, and pio\idii){j therein hotels, mills, etc., 
for the public accommodation of that new eoun- 
try. 

The f^overnor of Kansas, having, m pursuance 
of law, divided llio Territory into districts, and 
procured a census thereof, is.-ued his proclama- 
tion for the election of a le<,'islative assembly 
therein, to take place on the 30lh day of March, 
1855, and directed how the same should be con- 
ducted, and tlie returns made to him af^recablo 
to the law eslablishing said Territory. On the 
day of election, large bodies of armed men from 
the Slate of Missouri appeared at the polls in 
most of the districts, and by most violent and tu- 
multuous carriage and demeanor overawed the 
defenseless inhabitants, an<l by their own votes 
elected a large majority of the members of both 
bouses of said assembly. On the returns of said 
election being made to the governor, protests 
and objections were made to liim in relation to 
a part of said ilistricts ; and as to them, he set 
aside such, and such only, as by the returns ap- 
jicared to be bad. In relation to others, cover- 
ing, in all, a majority of the two houses, equally 
vicious in fact, but a)iparcntly good by formal 
returns, the inliabitanis tiiereof, borne down by 
said violeiico and iiitiMiidatioii, scattered and dis- 
couraged, and laboring under apprehensions of 
personal violence, refrained and desisted from 
presenting any protest to the governor in rela- 
tion thereto ; and he, then uniuformeil in relation 
thereto, issued certificates to the members who 
appeared bv said formal returns to have been 
elected. 

In relation to those districts which the govern- 
or so set aside, orders were by him issued for 
new elections. In one of these districts the same 
proeee(liiig8 were repeated by men from Missou- 
ri, and in others not, and certificates were issued 
to the persons elected. 

This legislative assembly, so elected, assem- 
bled at Pawnee, on the second day of July, 1855, 
that being the time and place for holding saiil 
meeting, as fixed by the governor, by authority 
of law. Oil assembling, the said houses pro- 
ceeded to set aside and reject those members 
so elected on said second election, excejit in 
the distri<'t where the men from Missouri had, 
at said election, chosen the same persons they 
had elected at the said first elcetiim, and they 
adimttcd allot the said fir.st-elected members. 

A legislative assembly, so created bv military 
force, by a foreign invasion, in violati'on of the 
organic law, was but a usurpation. No act of 



its own, no act or neglect of th«' gov inor, could 
legiili/,e or sanctify it. Its own dici.-ioii-t as to 
its own legality are like its laws, Imt ilie fruits 
of its own usurpation, which no govt riior could 
legitimate. 

They passed an act altering the pl.tcc of tho 
temporary seat of government to tlic Sliawneo 
Mission, on tliei>order <d', and in neui- proximity 
to, Missouri. This net the governor i. gaided us 
a violation of the organic law establi. hiiig tho 
Territory, which fixi-d the temper.iiy -eat of 
govirnment, and ])rohibited the hgi.li.live as- 
sembly from doing anything incii i-t. lit with 
said act. lie, tli<-refore, and fur limt cause, 
vetoed said bill ; Init said assembly repassed 
the same by a two-thirds majority, noi withstand- 
ing said veto, and removed to Miiil Sliawneo 
Mission. They then proceeded to pa.-^s laws, 
and thi- {governor, in writing, dc-( liiicd further 
to recognize them as a legitimute as-i inbly, sit- 
ting at that jilact-. Tln^y eoiitiniud passing 
laws there, troiii the llith day of .July to the 
3ist day of August, 185.5. 

On the 15th (lay of August last, the governor 
of said Territory was dismissed from oilice, and 
tlu! duties devolved upon the seci tary of the 
Territory ; and how many of the; laws passed 
with his oflieial approbation does not appear, 
tht! laws as now presented being without date 
or authentication. 

As by tho law of Congress organizing said 
Territory it w;is expres.sly jirovided, that the 
l)eople of the Territory were to be " left perfect- 
ly free to form and regulate their domestic in- 
stitutions in their own way," and among tlie.so 
institutions Slavery is included, it was, of course, 
implied that that subject was to be open and 
free to public and private discussion in all its 
bearings, rights, and relationships. Among 
these must, of course, be the (jut stion, What 
was the state oi tlw existing laws, ami the modi- 
fications that might be required on that subject? 
Tlie law had declared that its " true intent and 
meaning was not to legislate Slavery into the 
Territory, or exclude it therefrom." Tliis would, 
of course, leave to that peoi)le the inquiry, 
What, then, are the existing rights under the 
Constitution ? Can slaves be holden in the ab- 
sence of any law on the subject ? This question, 
about whicdi so much dift'erenee of opinion ex- 
ists, and which Congress and the courts have 
never settled, was thus turned over to the peo- 
ple there, to discuss and settle for themselves. 

This territorial legislature, so created by 
force from Missouri, utterly refused to pennit 
discussion on the subject ; but, assuming that 
Slavery already exi.sted there, and that neither 
C()ngress nor the people in the Territory, under 
the authority of Congress, had or could prohibit 
it, passed a law which, if enforced, utterly pro- 
hibits all discKssiun of the question. The elev- 
enth and twelfth sections of that act are as fol- 
lows : 

"Sec. 11. If any per.soD print, write, introduce into, 
publiad or circulate, or cause to be brought iuto, 
printed, written, published or circulattii, or shall 
Knowingly aid or assist in bringing into, printing, 
publishing or circulating within this Territory, any 
book, piiper. pamphlet, magazine, hand-bill or circular, 
containing any statements, arguments, opinions, 
sentiments, doctrines, advice or innuendo, calcalated 
to promote a disorderly, dangerous or rebellious dis- 
affection among the slaves in this Territory, or to 
induce such slaves to escape from the service of their 
masters or to resist theirauthority, he shall be guilty 
of a R'lony. and be punished by impri-sonmeut and 
hard labor for a term not le.'<8 than five yearj. 

"Sf.C. 12. If any free person, by speaking or by 
writing, assert or maintain that persons have not the 
right to hold sl.ives in this Territory, or shall intro- 
duce iuto this Territory, print, publlsn, write, circu- 
late, or cause to be introduced iuto this Territory, 
written, printed, publiahej or circulated in thia Ter- 



114 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



ritory, any hook, paper, magazine, pamphlet or circu- 
lar, containing any denial of the right of persons to 
hold slaves in ihia Territory, such persoQ shall be 
deemed guil'y of felony, and punished by imprison- 
ment at hard labor for a terra of not less than two 
years." 

And furtli'T providing^, that no person " con- 
Bcientitm^^ly opposed to holding slaves" shall sit 
as a juror in the trial of any cause founded on a 
breach of the foregoing law. They further pro- 
vided, that all officers and attorneys should be 
eworu not only to support the Constitution of the 
United .State.s, but also to support and sustain 
the organic law of th(^ Territory, and the fugi- 
tive slave laws ; and that any person ottering to 
vote shall be presumed to be entitled to vote 
until the contrary is shown, and if any one, 
■when required, shall refuse to take oath to sus- 
tain the fugitive-slave laws, he shall not be per- 
mitted to vote. Although they passed a law 
that none but an inhabitant, who had paid ata.x, 
Ehould vote, yet they required no time of rcsi- 
dtnce necessary, and provided for the immediate 
payment of a poll-tax ; so providing, in effect, 
that on the eve of an election the people of a 
neighboring State could come in. in unlimited 
numbers, and, by taking up a residence of a day 
or an hour, pay a poll-tax, and thus become 
legal voters, and then, after voting, return to 
their own State. They thus, in practical effect, 
provided for the people of Missouri to control 
elections at their pleasure, and permitted such 
only of the real inhabitants of the Territory to 
vote as are friendly to the holding of slaves. 

They permitted no election of any of the offi- 
cers in the Territory to be made by the people 
thereof, but created the offices and tilled them, 
or appointed officers to fill them for long periods, 
and provided that the next annual election should 
be holden in October, 1856, and the assembly to 
meet in January, 1857 ; so that none of these 
laws could be changed until the lower house 
■might be changed, in 1856 ; but the council, 
which is elected for two years, could not be 
changed so as to allow a change of the laws or 
officers until the session of 1858, however much 
the inhabitants of the TeiTitory might desire it. 
These laws, made by an assembly created by 
a foreign force, are but a manifestation of the 
spirit of oppression which was the parent of the 
whole transaction. No excuse can be found for 
it in the pretense that the inhabitants had carried 
with thein into said Territory a ([uantity of 
Sharp's rifles — first, because that, if true, formed 
no excuse ; secondly, it is untrue, as their 
Sharp's rifles were only obtained afterwards, 
and entirely for the purpose of self defense, the 
necessity for which, this invasion and other acts 
of violence and threats clearly demonstrated. 
These laws were obviously made to oppress and 
drive out all who were inclined to the exclusion 
of Slavery ; and if they remained, to silence them 
on this subject, and subject them to Ihe will and 
control of the people of Missouri. These are the 
laws which the President says must be enforced 
by the army and the whole power of this nation. 
The people of Kansas, thus invaded, subdued, 
oppressed, and insulted, seeing their territorial 
government (such only in form) perverted into 
an engine to crush them in the dust, and to de- 
feat and destroy the professed olijeet of their or- 
ganic law, by depriving them of the " perfect 
freedom'' therein provided ; and finding no 
ground to hope for rights in that organization, 
they prtieeeded, under the guaranty of the 
United Slates Constitution, "peaceably to as- 
semble to iietition the government for the re- 
dress of (their) grievance.-*." They saw no 
earthly source of relief but in the formation of a 
State government by the peopl(',and Ihe uccept- 
auce and ratification llu'reof by Congress. 
It is true that iu several instances in our po- 



litical history, the people of a Temtory have 
been authorized by an act of Congress to form 
a State constitution, and after so doing, were 
admitted by Congress. It is quite obvious that 
no such authority ciuild be given by the act of 
the territorial government. Thai clearly has no 
powerto create another government, paramount 
to itself It is equally true, that, in numeroua 
instance.s in our history, the people of a Territo- 
ry have, without any previous act of Congress, 
proceeded to call a convention of the people by 
their delegates ; have formed a State constitu- 
tion, which has been adopted by the people, 
and a State legislature assembled under it, and 
chosen Senators to Congress, and then have 
firesinted said constitution to Congress, who has 
approved the same, and received the senators 
and members gf Congress who were chosen un- 
der it before Congress had approved the same. 
Such was the case of Tennessee ; such was the 
case of Michigan, where the people not only 
formed a State constitution without an act of 
Congress, but they actually put their State gov- 
ernment into full operation and passed laws, and 
it was approved by Congress by receiving it as 
a State. The people of Florida foniied their 
constitution without any act of Congress there- 
for, six years before they were admitted into the 
Union. When the people of Arkansas were 
about forming a State constitution without a pre- 
vious act of Congress, in 1835, the territorial 
governor applied to the President on the subject, 
who referred the matter to the Attorney-Gene- 
ral, and his opinion, as then expressed and pub- 
lished, contained the following : 

" It is not in the power of the general asssrably of 
Arkansas to pas^ any law for the purpose of electing 
members to a convention to form a Con-ititution and 
State government, uor to do any other act, direitly 
or indirectly, to create such government. Every such 
law, even though it were approved by the governor of 
the Territory, would be null and void ; if passed by 
them notwithstanding his veto, by a vote of two- 
thirds of each branch, it would still be equally void." 

He further decided that it was not rebellious 
or insurrectionary, or even unlawful, for the 
people peaceably to proceed, even without an 
act of Congress, in forming a constitution, and 
that the so forming a State constitution, and so 
far organizing under the same as to choose the 
officers necessary for its representation in Con- 
gress, with a view to present the same to Con- 
gress for admission, was a power which fell 
clearly within the right of the people to assem- 
ble and petition for redress. The people of 
Arkansas proceeded without an act of Congress, 
and were received into the Union accordingly. 
If any rights were derived to the people of Ar- 
kansas from the terms of the French treaty of 
cession, they equally extended to the people of 
Kansas, it being a part of the same cession. 

In this view of the subject, in the first part of 
August, 1855, a call was published in the public 
papers for a meeting of the citizens of Kansas, 
UTespective of party, to meet at Lawrence, in 
said Ten-itory, on the 15th of said August, to 
take into consideration the propriety of calling 
a convention of the people of the whole Territo- 
ry, to consider that subject. That meeting waa 
held on the 15th day of August last, and it pro- 
ceeded to call such convention of delegates to 
be elected, and to assemble at Topeka, in said 
Territory, on the 19th day of September, 1855, 
not to form a constitution, but to consider the 
propriety of calling, formally, a convention for 
that purpose. The proceedings of this meeting 
of the 15th of August were as follows : 

State Constitutiijn. 
" Lawkenck, Kansas Territory, 
August 15, 1855. 
" Pursuant to a published call, signed ' Many Citi- 



THE KANSAS-NEIJRASKA STRUGGLE. 



115 



BCnn.' * to ttike into consideration the propriety of 
callinfc a Territorial cotivciiti<<n, prrlimiiiHry to tliu 
lorniiiiion of a .-tutu goviriiiiuiit, nud other 8iiliji-ci» 
of iiiililii; iiitoic»t,' u coiivciitiuii of thu citizens of 
KaiiKas Terrii.'.rv. irrcs/iecfirf of party, met. and upon 
motion of (!. K Ilidlid iv. Dr. A. IlmitinK was called to 
the chair. <:. W. Browii. E. I). l.«dd. 0. K. lllood, I, V. 
Lincoln. Jameg Chrintian. and Dr. J. D. Barnes elect- 
ed vice-presidents, and J. K. tioodiu, uud J. 1». Fox, 
seoretarieH. 

" On motion <if J. Hutchinson esq., a committee of 
tive weie ap| fiinted to prepare b<i»in.-H- for the conven- 
tion. Messrs, Q- W. Smith, C. K. IloUiJay, C, Kobin- 
son, John IJruwn, jr., and A. F. Powell were chcmen 
that commitloe. 

" Duriiiff the. absence ot the committee, the conven- 
tion wiisiiddress.d by Rev.— I.ovejoy, G. \V. Urown, J. 
Ilutchin.K'in, and M. F t'onwiiy. Alter which. Mr. (i. 
W. Smith, chairmiin, submitted the following aa Ihe 
report of the committee : 

•• Wheroiis the people of Kansas Territory have 
been, since its settlement, and now are, without any 
law-making power ; threfore, be it 

Jitsulved. That we. the people of Kansas Territory 
in mass lueetin.; assembled, irrespective of party dis- 
tinction", inlluenced by a cominou neces.sity, and 
greatly desirous of promoting the common ifood. do 
hereby call upoi and request all himafidr citizens of 
Kansas I'eriitory, of whatever political views or predi- 
lections, to consult together in their respective elec- 
tion-districts, and in m.iss convention, or otherwise, 
elect three delegates for each representative to which 
such district is entitled in the House of Repre^enta- 
tives of the the legislative assembly, by proclamation 
of Governor Uei-df-r of date lUth March, 1865 ; said 
deleg.ites to assemble in cnnvenion at the town of 
Topeka. on the 19'h day of Se|)tetnbHr. 1855, then and 
there to couaidor and determine upon all subjects of 
public interest, und particularly upon that having ref- 
erence to tliH .i^peedy formation <'( a State constitu- 
tion, with an intention of au immediate application to 
he admitted as a State into the Union of the ' United 
States of America.' 

" After the discussion of the resolution by Mr. 
Stearns and others, the report of the committee was 
adopted with but ime dissenting voice, 

" On motion, it was ordered that Ihe proceedings of 
this convention be i.ublished in the newspapers of the 
Territory, and Messrs. J. Speer, R. G. Klliot. and G. 
W. Rrown were appointed a c'immittee to publish and 
circulate the call lor the convention to he holdeu at 
Topeka. 

'• Ou motion, the convention adjourned sine die. 

" A. HUNTING, President. 
'• G. W. Brow.n, 
E. D Ladd, 
O. E. Blood, 
L. P. Lincoln, 
Jas. Christiak, 
J. D. Bar.nbs, 

Vice-Presidents, 
" J. K Goot>i.M, 
J. P Fox, 

Secretaries." 

Ajjrocable to these proceedings, the people of 
the (lifFuretit districts did, as therein recommend- 
ed, proceed to appoint delegates to this meeting 
at Topeka, to be Iioldeii on said 19th day of Sep- 
tember, 1855. The delegates so appointed did 
assemble at Topeka on said day, and proceeded 
to consider said subject, and tliey took the fol- 
lowing proceedings : 

" Proceedings of the State Constitutional Convention, 
held at Tuptka, Kansas Territory, September 19-20, 
1855. 

" Whereas the Constitution of the United States 
guarantees to the people of this republic the right of 
assembling tog-ther in a peaceable manner for the 
cominon good, to ' establish justice, insure domestic 
tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote 
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liber- 
ty to themselves and their posteiity,' and whereas 
the citizens of Kansas Territory were prevented from 
electing members of a legislative senibly, in pursuance 
of the proclamation of Governor Reeder, on the 30th 
of March list, by invading forces from foreign States 
coming into the Territory and forcing upon the peo- 
ple a legislature of non-residents and others, inimical 
to the interests of the people of Kaus,i8 Territory, de- 



' festing the object of the organic net. in confcquenco 
[ of whirli the lorritorial government luciiiie a perfect 
I failure, an) th" people were left without any lei^al 
governmoiit until their patience has becnie exhaust- 
ed, ami ' ci'diiraiieii ceases t'> be a viitue;' and they 
are coiiip.-ll,.,l to resort tn the only remedy lelt that 
of foniiing a giivi'rniiient for themselves ; tliorefore, 

" Jlnsvlted liy Ihf prtiptf ii( Kiinttm 't'errilmy in iltle- 
gale riinviiliitn iiHSfmhled. That an eleclloii shall be 
held in the Heveral elcctii>n precincts of this Territory 
on the second Tuesday of Octolier next, uihIit th« 
rei;ulatioin and restrictions hereinafter iiiipoHed. for 
nieiobers of a convention to form a const. tiition, 
adopt a bill of rights for th>' people of Kansa', and 
take all iit-edful measures lor organizing a .S'ate gov- 
ernment preparatory to the admission of Kansiia luto 
the Union as a State. 

•■ Reaolvd. That 'ho apportionment of delegates to 
said convention shall be as follows : two clelegateii 
for each refjresentativo to wbicli the people were enti- 
tl.-d in the legislative assembly by pr' clamation of 
Governor Reeder, of dale lOtli .March. 1S55. 

" Jtefolvfd, That a committee of seven be appointed 
by the chair, who shall organize by the appointineDt 
of a chairman and secretary. Tlicy shall keep a re- 
cord of their proceedings, and shall have the general 
superintendence of the affairs of the Territory so far 
as regards the organization of a State goveroment, 
which committee shall be styled ' the executive com- 
miltee of Kansas Territory.' 

•' Resulted. That it shiiU be the duty of the execu- 
tive committee of Kansas Territory to ailvertise said 
election at least fifteen d.iys before the second Tues- 
day of October next; and to ap)K>int three judges 
thereof for e.tch precinct, and the said judges ol each 
precinct shall appoint two clerks, all of whom shall 
be duly sworn or aflirmed to discharge the duties of 
their respective offices impartially, and with fidelity ; 
and they shall have power to administer tlie oath or 
affirmation to each other, and the said judges shall 
open said election at 10 o'clock a. m.. at the place 
liesignatcd in each precinct by the said executive 
committee, and close the same at 4 o'clock p. M. And 
in case any of the officers appointed fail to attend, 
the officer or officers in attendance shall supply the 
vacancy or vacancies ; and in the event of all of them 
failing to attend, ten qualified voters shall supply 
their places. And the said jud^^es shall make out 
duplicate returns of said election, seal up. and trans- 
mit one copy of the same within five days, to the 
chairman of the executive committee, to be laid be- 
fore the convention, and they shall, within ten days, 
seal up and hand the other to some member of the 
executive committee. 

" Resolv'l. That the chairman of the executive com- 
mittee ol Kansas Territory shall aniiimnce. by pro- 
clamation, the names of the persons elected delegates 
to the said convention ; and in c:ise the returns from 
any precinct should not be complet"d by that day, as 
soon theie.ifter aa practicable ; and in case of a tie, a 
new election shall be ordered by the executive com- 
mittee, giving five days' notice thereof, by the same 
officers who officiited at the first election. 

" liesiilved. That all white male inhabitants, citizens 
of the United States, above the age of twenty-one 
years, who have had a bona fide residence in the Ter- 
ritory of Kansas for the space of thirty days imme- 
diately preceding the day of said election, shall be 
entitled to vote for delegates to said convention ; and 
all white male inhabitants, citizens of the United 
States, above the age of twenty-one years, who have 
resided in the Territory of Kansts for the space of 
three months immediately preceding the day of 
election, shall be eligible as delegates to said con- 
vention, 

'•Resolved. That if at the time of holding said election 
it shall be inconvenient, on account of Indian hostili- 
ties or any other cause whatever that would disturb 
or prevent the voters of any election-precinct in the 
Territory from the free and peaceable exercise of the 
elective franchise, the officers are hereby authorized 
to adjourn said election into any other precinct in the 
Territory, and to any other day they may see proper, 
of the necessity of which thev sh ill be the exclusive 
judges, at which time and place the qualified voters 
may cast their votes. 

•• R'Sotved, That said convention shall be held at 
Topeka on the fourth Tuesday of October next, at 12 
o'clock, a. m.. of that dav. 

'• RcsolreJ. That a majority of said convention shall 
constitute a quorum, and that the said convention shall 
determine upon the returns and qualifications of its 
members, and shall have and exercise all the rights, 



116 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRTCTION. 



privileges, ami Imniunities incifient to such bndies. and 
lUiiy adopt su -li rules and regulations for its 'j;overn- 
ment as a majority thereof may direct. If a majority of 
said convention do not assemble on the day appointed 
therefor, a less number is hereby authorized to ad- 
journ from (lay to day. 

" Jti^solt'ed. iliat in case of (he death, resis^nation, or 
con-atteiidaiice of any delegate chosen from any dis- 
trict of the Territory, the president of the convention 
fliall issue his writ ordering a new election, on five 
days notice, to be conducted as heretofore c'irected. 

"JirsolvJ, That no peison shall be entitled to a seat 
in the convention at its organization except the mem- 
bers who--e names are contained in the proclamation 
of the chairman of the executive committee. But 
after the convention is organized, seats may be con- 
tested in the usual way. 

'■ Resolved. That tbe members of the convention 
shall receive, as a compensation for their services, the 
sum of three dollars per day, ami three dollars for 
every twenty miles' travel to and from the same, and 
thatCongress be respectfully requested to appropriate 
a sutlicieut sum to defray the necessary expenses of 
said convention. 

'' JifsolveJ, That on the adoption of a Constitution 
for the State of Kansas, the president of the conven- 
tion shall transmit an authenticated copy thereof to 
the President of the United States, to ttie President 
of the Senate, and to the f-pe.iker of the House of 
Representatives; to each member of Congress, and 
to the governor of each of the several States in the 
Union ; and adopt such other measures as will secure 
to the people of Kansas the rights and privilege of a 
sovereign istate. 

" On motion, the committee on address was vesteil 
with authority to notify the people of the several 
districts of the Territory of the coming election, by 
handbills, public addresses, and otherwise as they may 
think proper. 

" Tlie Territorial executive committee was appoint- 
ed by the cbair, consisting of the following persons. 
J. H. Lane, C. K. Holiiday, M. J. Parrott, P. C. 
Schuyler G. W. Smith, G. W. Brown, and J. K. 
Goodin. 

"On motion, the proceedings of this convention 
were ordered to be published in all the papers of the 
Territory. 

'• A vote of thanks was passed to the president and 
oEScers of the convention. 

" Adjourned, with three enthusiastic cheers for the 
liew government of Kansas. 

" WM. Y. ROBERTS, President. 

"E. D. Ladd, 
J. H. Nesbitt, 
M. W. Delahay, 

Secretaries.'^ 

" CONSTITCTIONAL PROCLAMATION. 

" To the L'^aal Voters of Kansas: 

"Whereas the Territorial government, as now con- 
stituted for Kansas, has proved a failure — squatter 
sovereignty uudc-r its workings a miserable delusion, 
in proof of which it is only necessary to refer to our 
past history and our present deplorable condition, our 
ballot-boxes have been taken possession of by bands 
of armed men from foreign States— our people forcibly 
driven therefrom— persons attempting to be foisted 
upon us as members of a so-called legislature, unac- 
quainted with our wants, and hostile to our best 
interests- some of them never residents of our Ter- 
ritory — misnamed lairs passed, and now attempting to 
be eiiforced by the aid of citizens of foreign States of 
the most oppressive, tyrannical, and insulting charac- 
ter— the right of suffrage taken from us— debarred 
from the privilege of a voice in the election of even 
the most insignificant officers— the right of free speech 
stifle, l_the muzzling of the press attempted ; and 
whereas longer forbearance with such oppression and 
tyranny has ceased to be a virtue; and whereas the 
people of this country have heretofore exercised the 
right of changing their form of government when it 
became oppressive, and have at all times conceded this 
right to tlie people in this and all other governments ; 
and whereas a Territorial form of government is un- 
known to the Constitution, and is the mere creature 
of necessity awaiting the action of the people ; and 
whereas the del)iising character of the slavery which 
now involves us impels to action, and leaves us as the 
only legal and peaceful alternative the immediate 
establishment of a State government ; and whereas 
the organic act fails in pointing out the course to be 
adopted in an emergency like ours Therefore you 



are requested to meet at your several precincts in said 
Territorv, lieiemaftermentiimid. on the second Tues- 
day (if Ocl(dier next, it being the ninth day of said 
month, and then and there cast your ballots for mem- 
bers of a convention, to meet at TopeKa on the fourth 
Tuesday in October next, to form a Constitution, 
adopt a bill of riglits for the people of Kansas, and 
take all needful measures for organizing a State gov- 
ernnunt preparatory to the admission of Kansas into 
the Union as a State. 

" Places for Polls. 

" First election-district — Lawrence precinct, at the 
ofBce of John Hutchinson, in Lawrence. Blanton 
precinct, at the house of J. B. Abbott, in Blanton. 
Palmyra precinct, at the house of H. Barricklow, in 
Palmyra — Waliarusa river the dividing line between 
the two precincts. 

" Second election-district. — Bloomington precinct, 
house of Harrison Burson, on the Wakarusa. Be- 
nicia precinct, house of J. J. Cranmer, East Douglas. 
" Third election district. — Topek* precinct, house 
of F. W. Giles, Topeka. Big Springs precinct, at the 
house of Wesley Frost, in Washington. Tecumseh 
precinct, at the house of Jlr. Hoagland, in Tecumseh. 
•'Fourth eUclion-disirict. — WiUow Springs precinct, 
at the house of Dr. Chapman, on the Santa Fe road, 
Springfield. 

•' Fifth election-district. —hnW-Cree^ precinct, at 
the liou.se of Baptiste Peoria, on Pottawatomie- 
Creek. Pottawatomie precinct, at the house of Henry 
Sherman. Osawattamie precinct, at the house of 
Wm. Hughes, in Osawattamie. Big Sugar-Creek 
precinct, at the house of Elijah Tucker, at old Potta- 
watomie Mission. Little Sugar-Creek precinct, at 
the house of Isaac Stockton. Neosho precinct, at the 
store of Hamilton Smith, in Neosho. Hampdon pre- 
cinct, at the house of W. A. Ela, in Hampden. 

" Sixth election-district. — lort Scott precinct, at the 
house of Mr. Johnson, or a suitable building in Fort 
Scott. Scott's Town precinct, at the house of Mr. 
Vandever. 

" Seventh election-district.— Titns precinct, at the 
house of J. B. Titus, on the Santa Fe road. 

•' Eighth eleclion-dis'rict.— Council Grove precinct, 
at Council Grove Mission House. Waubonsa precinct, 
at some suitable building in Waubonsa. Mill-Creek 
precinct, at the house of G. E. Hoheneck, on Mill- 
] Creek. Ashland precinct, at the house of Mr. Adams, 
in Ashland. 

" Ninth election-district. — Pawnee precinct, at Lo- 
i den and Shaw's store, in Pawnee. 

' •' Tenth election-district.— Big Blue precinct, at the 
1 house of S. D. Dyer, in Juniatta. Rock-Creek pre- 
j cinct. at the house of Robert Wilson. 

" Eleventh election district. — Vermillion precinct, at 
the house of John Schmidt, on Vermilliou branch of 
Blue river. 

" Twelfth ehction-district.—St Mary's precinct, at 
I the hou,se of B. F. Bertrand. Silver Lake precinct, at 
! the house of Joseph Leframbois. 

I " Thirteenth election-district.— Uic^ory Point pre- 
I cinct. at the house of Charles Hardt. Falls precinct, 
I at the house of 'Mill Company,' at Grass-hopper 
I F.alls. 

" Fourteenth election-district.— BuT-Oak precinct, at 
the house of Benjamin Harding. Doniphan precinct, 
(including part of the 15th district to Walnut-Creek), 
.at the house of Dr. G A. Cutler, in Doniphan. Wolf 
river precinct, at the bouse of Aaron Lewis 

" Fifteenth election-district. — Walnut-Creek pre- 
cinct ("south Walnut-Creek), at the house of Charles 
Hays, on Military road. 

•■ Sixteenth election-district.-'Le&'^enwOTt'h precinct, 
at the store of Thomas Doyle, in Leavenworth City. 
Easton precinct, at the house of Thomas A. Maynard, 
on Stranger-Creek. Wvandot precinct, at the coun- 
cil-house, in Wyandot City. Ridge precinct, at the 
house of Wm. Pennock. 

" Seventeenth election-district.— Jilission precinct, at 
the Baptist Mission-building. Waliarusa precinct, at 
the store of Paschal Fish. 

"Eighteenth electioii-di.itrict.-CMtoTnia, precinct, 
at the house of W. W. Moore, on the St. Joseph and 
California road. 

" INSTRUCTION TO JUDGES OF ELECTION. 

" The three judges will provide for each poll, ballot- 
boxes for depositing the ballots cast by electors ; shall 
appoint two clerks, all of whom shall be sworn or af- 
firm to discharge the duties of their respective offices 
impartially and with fidelity ; and the judges and 



TUE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



117 



clerks sliall have power to ailniinistertho oath or nfllr- 
mation to each otln-r ; and the (aid judfjes »ball opcti 
aaideU-ction at 10 o'clucka.m., at the place desipnated 
in oiicli precinct by the oxuoutivxcumiiiitteoof KaiiKus 
Territory, and closu till' 8IIIUC ai4u'cluck p.m. Iiicimo 
any of lUo officers appointed fail to attend, the officer or 
ofliccra in attendance Hhall snpply ttieir places. And 
the said judges .thall make out duplicate returns of said 
election; seal up and transmit one copy ef the same 
witliiii live days to the chairman of the executive 
committee to he laid before the convention, and they 
shall within ten days seal up and hand the other to 
some meniber of the said executive coramitltee. If at 
the tinieof holding said election it shall be inconveni- 
ent on accunnt of luilian hoslilitios. or any other cau.oe 
whatevor, that would disturb or prevent the voters 
of anv election-precinct in the Territory trom the free 
and peaceable exercise of tlip elective franchise, the 
officers ar» hereby authorized to adjourn said election 
luto any other precinct iu the Territory, and to any 
other day they may see proper, of the necessity of 
which they shall be the exclu>ive judges, at which 
time and place the qualitied voters may cast their 
votes. 

*' QOALIFICATION OF VOTBHS, ETC. 
" All white male inhabitants, citizens of the United 
States, or who have declared their intentions, before 
the proper authorities, to become such, above the ajre 
of twenty-one years, who have had a bona fide resi- 
dence in the Territory for the space of thirty days 
immo'iiately preceding the day of the said election, 
shall be entitled to vote for delegates to said conven- 
tion ; and all wliite male inhubitauts, citizens of the 
United States, above the ngo of twenty-one yeats, who 
have had a bonafiAe residence iu the Territory of Kan- 
sas for the space of three mouths immediately pre- 
ceding the day of election, shall be eligible as dele- 
gates to said convention. 

" APPORTIONMENT. 

'• The apportionment of delegates to said convention 
shall be .i.s follows : Two delegates for each represent- 
ative to which the people were entitled in the legis- 
lative assembly, bv proclamation of Governor Reeder 
of date March 10. ISoo. 

" It is confidently believed that the people of Kan- 
Fas are fully alive to the importance of the step they 
are about tp take in disenthralling themselves from the 
slavery wlTich i> now lettering them; and the squat- 
ters of KiiTisas are earnestly requested to be at their 
several polls on the day above designated. See that 
there be no illegal votes cast, and that every ballot re- 
ceived be in accordance with your choice for delegate 
to the constitutional convention, and have all the 
regulations and restrictions carried out. 

" The plan proposed in the proclamation, to govern 
you in the election, has been adopted after mature 
deliberation, and, if adhered to by you, will result in 
establishing inKansas an independent government that 
will be admitted iuto our beloved Uuiouasa sovereign 
State, securing to our people the liberty they have 
heretofore enjoyed, and which has been so ruthlessly 
wrested from them by reckless invaders. 

" By order of the executive committee of Kansas 
Territory, 

"J. U.LANE, Chairman. 

" J. K. GoODist, Secretary." 

Delegates -were elected agreeably to the pro- 
clamation so is.sued, and they met at Topeka on 
the fourth Tuesday in October, 1855, and formed 
a constitution, which was submitted to the peo- 
ple, and was ratified by them by vote in the dis- 
tricts. An election of State ofTieers and members 
of the State lefrislaturo has bteii had, and a rep- 
re.scntativc to Congress elected, and it is intend- 
ed to proceed to the election of senators, with the 
view to present the same, with the constitution, 
to Congress for admission iuto the Union. 

Whatever views individuals may at times, or 
in meetings, have e.xpressed, and whatever ulti- 
mate deteiTuination may have been entertained 
in the result of being spurned by Congress, and 
refused redress, is now entirely immaterial. 
That cannut <'ondemu or give character to the 
proceedings thus far pursued. 

Matiy may have honestly believed usurpation 
couki make no law, and that if Congress made 
no further provisions they were well justified 



in fi)rming a law for themiwilvcs ; but it is not 
now iieccsKury to contfider that mutter, as it is to 
Ijc Imped tliiit Congress will not Icuvo them to 
such a necessity. 

Thus fur, Ibis effort of flic pooplo for redresB is 
peaceful, coiwtitiitioiiul, un(l rigiit. Whether it 
will succeed, rests witli (;nngrcsH to determine; 
i)Ut clear it is that it should not be met und de- 
nounced us rcvolulii)iiarv, rcbelliotis, insurrec- 
tionary, or unlawful, nor docs it call for or justify 
the e.\ereiso of any force by any dcimrlmout of 
this government to check or control it. 

It now bt<c,(unes proper to iiii|uire what should 
be done by Congress ; for we ar(^ informed by 
the President, in substance, that he has no power 
to correct a ustiriuition, uiid that the laws, even 
though made by usurped aufiiority, must be by 
him enforced and executed, even with military 
force. Tho measures of redress should be ap- 
plied to the true cause of tho dilliculty. This 
obviously lies in the repeal of the clause for free- 
dom in the act of ISL'O, and therefore the true 
remedy lies in tho entire repeal of the act of 18.'J4, 
which etfectcd it. Let this be done with frank- 
ness and majjuaniinity, and Kansas bo organized 
anew, as a Free Territory, and ull will be put 
right. 

liut, if Congress insist on proceeding with the 
experiment, then declare all the action by this 
spurious, foreign legislative assembly utterly in- 
operative and void, and direct a reorganization, 
providing proper safeguard for legal votuag ami 
against fijreigu force. 

There is, however, another way to put an end 
to all this trouble there, and iu tho nation, with- 
out retracing steps or continuing violence, or by 
force compelling obedience to tyrannical laws 
made by foreign force ; and that is, by admitting 
that Territory as a State, with her free constitu- 
tion. True, indeed, her numbers are not such aa 
gives her a right to demand admission, being, as 
the President informs ns, probably only about 
twenty-five thousand. The Coustitiition fixes no 
number as necessary, and the importance of iioti} 
settling this question may well justify Congress 
in admitting this as a Sta"te, at tJiis ti'me, especi- 
ally as we have good reason to believe that, if 
admitted as a State, and controversy ended, it 
will immediately fill up with a numerous and 
successful population. 

At any rate, it seems iinpossible to believe that 
Congress is to leave that people without redress, 
to liave enforced upon them by the army of the 
nation these measures and laws of violence and 
opprciision. Are they to bo dragooned into sub- 
mission ? Is that an experiment pleasant to 
execute on our own free people ? 

The true character of this transaction is matter 
of extensive notoriety. Its essential features are 
too obvious to allow of any successful disguise 
or palliation, however complicated or ingenious 
may be the statements, or however special the 
pleadings, for that purpose. The case requires 
some quieting, kind, and prudent treatment by 
the hand of Congress to do justice and satisfy the 
nation. Tho people of this country are peaceful- 
ly relying on Congress to provide tlie competent 
measures of redress which they have the un- 
doubted power to administer. 

The Attorney-General, in the case of Arkansas, 
says : " Congress may at pleasure repeal or 
modify the laws passed by the territorial legisla- 
ture, and may at any time abrogate and remodel 
tho legislature itself, and all the other depart- 
ments of the territorial government." 

Treating this grievance iu Kansas with inge- 
nious excuses, with neglect or contempt, or riding 
over the oppressed witli an army, and dragooning 
them into submission, will mate no satisfactory 
temiination. Parly success may at times be 
temporarily secured by adroit doviatjs, plausible 



118 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



pretenses, and partisan address ; but the perma- 
nent preservation of this Union can bo maintain- 
ed only by frankness and integrity. Justice may 
be denied where it ought to be granted; power 
may perpetuate that vussahige which violence 
and usurpation have produced ; the subjugation 
of wliite freemen may be necessary, that African 
Slavery may succeed ; but such a course must 
not be expected to produce peace and satisfaction 
in our country, so long as the people retain any 
proper sentiment of justice, liberty, and law. 

J. COLLA.MER. 



It is not possible, within the limits pre- 
scribed for this volume, to give a full ac- 
count of the debates and proceedings in the 
present Cong-ress with relation to Kansas. 
{Suffice it that, on the 19th of March, the 
House was bronght to a vote on the propo- 
sition of the Committee of Elections, to 
empower said Committee to send to Kansas 
for persons and papers, modified, on motion 
of Mr. Dunn of Indiana, with the assent of 
said Committee, so as to read as follows : 

" Resolved, That a Committee of three of the 
members of this House, to be appointed by the 
Speaker, shall proceed to inquire mto and collect 
evidence in regard to the troubles in Kansas 
generally, and particularly in regard to any fraud 
or force" attempted or practiced in reference to 
any of the elections which have taken place in 
said Territory, either under the law organizing 
said TeiTitory, or under any pretended law which 
may be alleged to have taken etfect there since. 
That they shall fully investigate and take proof 
of all violent and tumultuous proceedings in said 
Territory, at any time since the passage of the 
Kansas-Nebraska act, whether engaged in by 
the residents of said Territory, or by any person 
or persons from elsewhere going into said Terri- 
tory, and doing, or encouraging others to do, any 
act of violence or public disturbance against the 
laws of the United States, or the rights, peace, 
and safety of the residents of said Territory ; and, 
for that purpose, said Committee shall have full 
power to send for, and examine, and take copies 
of, all such papers, public records, and proceed- 
ings, as in their judgment will be useful in the 
premises ; and also, to send for persons and exam- 
ine them on oath, or affirmation, as to matters 
within their knowledge, touching the matters of 
said investigation ; and said Committee, by their 
Chairman, shall have power to administer all 
necessary oaths or affirmations connected with 
their aforesaid duties. 

" Renolved further, That said Committee may 
hold their investigations at such places and times 
as to them may seem advisable, and that they 
have leave of absence from the duties of this 
House until they shall have completed such in- 
Trestigation. That they be authorized to em- 
ploy one or more clerks, and one or more as- 
sistant sergeants-at-arms, to aid them in their 
investigation ; and may administer to them an 
oath, or afiirmation, faithfully to perform the 
duties assigned to them, respectively, and to keep 
secret all matters which may come io their know- 
ledge touching such investigation, as said Com- 
mittee may direct, until the Report of the same 
shall be submitted to this House ; and said Com- 
mittee may discharge any such clerk, or assistant 
sergeant-at-arms, for neglect of duty or disregard 
of instructions in the premises, and employ others 
under like regulations. 

" lie-so/rcilj'iir/hfr. That if any person shall, in 
any manner, obstruct or hinder said Committee, 
or attempt to do so, in their said investigation 



or shall refuse to attend on said Committee, and 
to give evidence, when summoned for that pur- 
pose, or shall refuse to produce any paper, book, 
public record, or proceeding, in their possession 
or control, to said Committee, when so required, 
or shall make any disturbance where said Com- 
mittee is [are] holding their sittings, said Commit- 
tee may, if they see fit, cause any such person to 
be arrested by said assistant serjeant-at-arms, 
and brought before this House, to be dealt with 
as for contempt. 

"■ Resolved juriher, That, for the pui-pose of 
defraying the expenses of said Commission, there 
be, and hereby is, appropriated the sum of tea 
thousand dollars, to be paid out of the contingent 
fund of this House. 

" Resolved further, That the President of the 
United States be, and is hereby, requested to 
furnish to said Committee, should they be met 
with any serious opposition by bodies of lawless 
men in the discharge of their duties aforesaid, 
such aid from any military force as may at the 
time be convenient to them, as may be necessary 
to remove such opposition, and enable said Com- 
mittee, without molestation, to proceed with their 
labors. 

" Resolved further, That when said Committee 
shall have completed said investigation, they 
report all the evidence so collected to this House." 

This proposition the House adopted — 
Yeas 101 ; Nays 93 — as follows : 

YEAS — For the proposed Investigation: 

Maine — Samuel P. Benson, Ebenezer Knowl- 
ton, Israel Washburn, Jr. — 3. 

New-Hampshire — Aaron H. Cragin, James 
Pike— 2. 

Massachusetts— James Buffinton, Anson 
Burlingame, Calvin C. Chaiiee, Linus B. Comins, 
William S. Damrell, Timothy Davis, Robert 
B. Hall, Chauncey L. Knapp, Mark Trafton 
— f>. 

Rhode Island — Nathaniel B. Durfee — 1. 

Connecticut — Ezra Clark, Jr., Sidney Dean, 
William W. Welch, John Woodrufi— 4. 

Vermont — James Meaeham, Justin S. Mor- 
rill— a. 

New-York — Henry Bennett, Bayard Clarke, 
Samuel Dickson, Edward Dodd, Francis S. Ed- 
wards, Thomas T. Flagler, William A. Gilbert, 
Amos P. Granger, Solomon G. Haven, Thomas 
R. Horton, Jonas A. Hughston, William II. Kel- 
sey, Rufus H. King, Orsamus B. Matteson, 
Andrew Z. McCarty, Killiau Miller, Edwin B. 
Morgan, Ambrose S. MuiTay, Andrew Oliver, 
John M. Parker, Benjamin Pringle, Russell 
Sage, George A. Simmons, Francis E. Spinner, 
James S. T. Stranahan, Abram Wakeman — 
26. 

New-Jersev — Isaiah D. Clawson, James 
Bishop, George R. Robbins — 3. 

Pennsylvania — John Allison, David Bar- 
clay, Samuel C. Bradshaw, James H. Camp- 
bell, John Covode, John Dick, John R. Edie, 
Galusha A. Grow, John Hickman, Jonathan 
Knight, David Ritchie, Anthony E. Roberts, 
Job It. Tyson, Lemuel Todd— 14. 

Ohio — Edward Ball, Philemon Bliss, Lewis 
D. Campbell, Timothy C. Day, Jonas R. Emrie, 
Samuel Galloway, Joshua R. Giddings, Aaron 
Harlan, John Scott Harrison, Valentine B. 
Horton, Benjamin F. Leitcr, Oscar F. Moore, 
Richard Mott, Matthias H. Nichols, William R. 
Siipp, John Sherman, Edward Wade, Cooper K. 
Watson— 18. 

Indiana — Lucien Barbour, Samuel Brenton, 
Schuyler Colfax, William Cumback, George G. 
Dunn, Daniel Mace, John U. Pettit, Harvey D. 
Scott— 8. 

Illinois — James Knox, Jesse O. Norton, 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



119 



Elihu B. Wnshburne, Jaiiio:) II. Woodworth — 
4. 

Michigan— \\'iirmin A. Howard, Diivid S. 
Wiilbrid-e, Hi'iiiv Waldn.n— 3. 

Wisconsin— ciiiulou BilliugLurst, Cudwallii- 
der C. Wiislil)uriio — 12. 

Iowa— Augustus C. Hall, Janioa Thoring- 
tou—2. 

'IV.tal Yeivs, 101. 

NAYS — Against the Investigation : 

Maisk — Tliiiniiis J. D. Fuller — I. 

OriiKit Nr.wKN(ii,ANn Statks — Xoiir. 

NewVouk— .Iiiliii K<lly, William W. Vulk, 
John \Vlicoli'r, Tliunuis A'. Whitnri/ —A. 

Nkw Jeksky — C}0(>r;,'e Vail — 1. 

Pennsylvania— John Cud walader, Thomas B. 
Florencx', J. (Jluney Jones — 3. 

C)ino — Xoi(i\ Wisconsin — None. 

Indiana — William H. English, Smith Miller 

2. 

Michigan— George W. Peck — 1. 

Illinois — Jumes C. Allen, Thomas L. Harris, 
Samuel S. Marsbull, William A. Richardson — 
4. 

Caluounia- Philemoa T. Herbert— I. 

Iowa — None. 

Total from Free States, 17. 

Delaware — None. 

Mauvland — Thonins F. Bowie, Henry W. 
Davis, Hfitry IV. Hojj'man, J. Morri.^on Har- 
ris, James B. Ricaud, Jumes A. Stewart — 6. 

Virginia — Thomas S. Bocock, John S. Car- 
lisle, John S. Cas^kio, Henry A. Ednnindson, 
Charles J. Faulkner, William O, Go-.ile, Zede- 
kiah Kidweli, John Lotclier, Fayette M<Mullen, 
John !S. Millson, Paulus Powell, William .Sniith 
—1-2. 

North Carolina — Louis O'B. Branch, Thom- 
as L. Clingman, Burton Crnige, Robert T. 
Paine, Thomas Ruliin, Warren Wiuslow — 6. 

South Carolina- William Aiken, William 
W. Boyec. Preston S. Brooks, John McQueen, 
James L. Orr — 5. 

Georgia — Howell Cobb, Martin J. Crawford, 
John H. Lumpkin, James L. Seward, Alex. H. 
Stephens, Robert P. Trippe, Hiram Warner — 

Alabama — W. R. W. Cobb, James F. Dow- 
dell, Sampson W. Harris, George 8. Houston, 
Eli S. Shorter, WiUiam R. Smitli, Percy Walker 

Mississippi— Ilendley S.Bennett, WiUiam A. 
Lake, ,Jolin A. Quitmim — 3. 

Louisiana — Tlios. G. Davidson, George Eus- 
tis, J/-., John JI. Sandidge, Miles Tiij'lor-— 4. 

Florida — Augustus E. Maxwell— 1. 

Texas— Peter H. Bell, Lemuel D. Evans— 2. 

Kentucky- Henry C. Burnett, John P. 
Campbell, Leauiler M. Cox, John M. Elliot, 
Alex. K. Marshall, Humphrei/ Marshall, Samuel 
F. Sirope, Albert G. Talbott, William L. Under- 
mood — 9. 

Tennessee— George W.Jones, Charles Ready, 
John H. Savnge, Samuel A. Smith, William H. 
tineed, Albert G. Wutkius, John V. Wright, 
Felix K. Zut 1 1 coffer— 8. 

Missouri — Samuel Caruthers, Luther M. 
Kennetf, James J. Lindlcy, Jlordecui Oliver, 
John S. Phelps, Gilchrist Porter— 6. 

A R KANSAS — None. 

[Fillmore men in Italics; Buchanan men voting 
Yi'a 111 SMALL Capitals; Anli-.Nobraska Yeas and 
Buchauau Nays in Komau.] 

So the resolution prevailed, and Messrs. 
WiLLi.vM A. Howard of Michigan, John 
Shekmax of Ohio, and Mordecai Oliver 



of Missouri, were appoint**] the Committoo 
of Iiive.sti<^ation thereby required. 

These geiitli'iiifii iiroccedcd to Kansas, 
and spent several weeks tiu.re in takinj,' tes- 
timony as to the elections, etc., wliicli had 
taken place in tliut Territory. 'I'lie testi- 
mony thus taken forms a volume of nearly 
twelve hundred larj^e and closely-printed 
pages, the Kuhstanee of which was summed 
up on their return by the majuritv (Messrs. 
Howard and Sherman), in the folfuwing 



REPORT ON THE OUTRAC5ES 
KANSAS. 



IN 



A journal of proeecdinga, including sundry com- 
munieations mado to and by tlii! Committee 
was kept, a copy of which is herewith subniittod. 
The testimony also is herewith submitted ; a 
coj)y of it has been made and arran;,'e(l. not ac- 
cording to the order in wliieii il waf takmi, but so 
as to jireseiit, as clearly as possible, a consecu- 
tive history of events \n the Territorj', from ita 
organization to tho PJth day of March, a. d. 
185G. 

Your Committee deem it their duty to state, oa 
briefly as possible, the principal facts proven be- 
fore them. When the act to organize the Ter- 
ritory of Kansas was passed on day of 

May, 18.")4,, the greater portion of its eastern bor- 
der was included in Indian reservations not open 
for settlement, and there wore but few white set- 
tlers in any portion of the Territory. Its Indian 
population was rapidly decreasing, while many 
emigrants from different partsof our country were 
anxiously waiting the extinction of the Indian 
title, and the establishment of a Territorial Gov- 
ernnient, to seek new homes in its fertile prai- 
ries. It cannot be doubted that if its condition 
as a free Territory had been left undisturbed 
by Congress its settlement would have heea 
rapid, jjeaeeful, and prosperous. It.s climate, 
soil, and its easy access to the older settlements 
would have mado it the favored eourrefor the 
tide of emigration constantly flowing to the West, 
and by this time it would have been admitted 
into the Union as a Free State, without the least 
sectional excitement. If so organized, none but 
the kindest feeling could have existed lietween it 
and the adjoining State. Their mutual intcrestj 
and intercourse, instead of, as now, endangering 
tho harmony of the Union, would have strength- 
ened the ties of national brotherhood. The tes- 
timony clearly shows, that before the i.roposition 
to repeal the Missouri Compromise was inti'O- 
duced into Congress, the people of western Mis- 
souri appeared indiftcrent to the prohibition of 
Slavery m the Territory, and neither asked nor 
desired its repeal. 

When, however, the prohibition was removed 
by the action of Congress, the aspect of affairs 
entirely changed. The whole country was agi- 
tated, by the reopenin^T of a controversy which 
conservative men in difterent sections hoped had 
been settled, in every State and Territory, by 
some law beyond the danger of repeal. The ex- 
citement which has always aceoni|)anied the 
discussion of the Slavery (juestion was greatly in- 
creased, by the hope on the one hand t)f extend- 
ing Slavery into a region from which it had been 
e.xcluded by law, and on the other by a sense of 
wrong done by what was regarded as a dishonor 
of a national compact. This exeilement was natu- 
rally transferred into tho border counties of 
Missouri and the Territory as settlers favoring 
free or Slavo institutions moved into it. A new 
diflieully soon occurred. Diflcreiit eoiistructiona 
were put upon the organic law. It was contend- 
ed by the one party that tlie right to hold Slave* 



120 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



in the Territory existed, and that neither the peo- 
ple uor the Territorial Legislature could prohibit 
Slavery — iliut that power was alone possessed by 
the people wln-ii they were authorized to form a 
State govi'inment. It was eontended that the 
removal of I he restriction virtually established 
Slavery in the Territory. This clami was urged 
by many jironiinont men in western Missouri, 
who activi'ly engaged in the affairs of the Terri- 
tory. Evi'ry uiovemeut, of whatever character, 
which tended to establish free institutions, was 
regarded as an interference with their rights. 

Within a few days after the organic law pass- 
ed, and as soon as its passage could be known 
on the border, leading citizens of Missouri cross- 
ed into tlie Territory ,"held squatter meetings and 
tlu-n rc-turneil to their homes. Among their reso- 
lutions are the following : 

"That we will afford protection to no Aholitionist as 
a settler of this Territory." 

" That we recognize the institution of Slavery as al- 
ready existing in this Territory, and advise slavehold- 
ers to introduce their property as early as possible." 

Similar resolutions were passed in various 
parts of the Territory, and by meetings in seve- 
ral counties of Missouri. Thus the first effect 
of the repe.-d of the restriction against Slavery 
was to substitute the resolves of squatter meet- 
ings, composed almost exclusively of citizens of 
a single Stale, for the deliberate action of Con- 
gress, acquiesced in for thirty-five years. 

This unlawful interference has been continued 
in every important event in the history of the 
Territory ; every election has been controlled not 
by the actual settlers, but by citizens of Mis- 
souri, and as a consequence every ofJicer in the 
Territory, from constables to legislators, except 
those apjjohited by the President, owe their posi- 
tions to non-resident voters. None have been 
elected by the settlers, and your Committee have 
been unable to find that any political power 
whatever, however unimportant, has been exer- 
cised by the people of the Territory. 

In October, a. d. 1854, Gov. A. H. Reeder 
and theotlier officers appointed by the President 
arrived in the Territory. Settlers from all parts 
of the country were moving in in great uumoers, 
making their claims and building their cabins. 
About the same time, and before any election was 
or could be held in the Territory, a secret politi- 
cal society was formed in the State of Missouri 
(1). It was known by different names, such as 
" Social Band,'' " Friends' Society," " Blue 
Lodge," '■ The Sons of theSouth." Its members 
were bound together by secret oaths, and they 
had passwords, signs, and grips by which they 
were known to each other. Penalties were im- 
posed for violating the rules and secrets of the 
Order. Written minutes were kept of the pro- 
ceedings of the Lodges, and the different Lodges 
were connected together by an effective organi- 
zation. It embraced great numbers of the citi- 
zens of Missouri, and was extended into other 
Slave States and into the Territory. Its avowed 
purpose was not only to extend Slavery into Kan- 
Bas. but also into other Territory of the United 
States, and to form a union of all the friends of 
that institution. Its plan of operating was to or- 
ganize and send men to vote at the elections in 
Bie Territory, to collect money to pay their ex- 
penses, and, if necessary, to protect them in vot- 
ing. It also proposed to induce Pro-Slavery men 
to emigrate into the Territory, to aid and sustain 
them while there, and to elect none to office but 
those friendly to their views. This dangerous 
society was controlled by men who avowed their 
purpose to extend Slavery into the Territory at 
all hazards, and was altogether the most effective 

(1) Jordan Davidson, J. C. Prince, John Scott, J. H. 
Striugfellow. 



instrument in organizing the subsequent armed 
invasions and forays. In its Lodges in Missouri 
the affairs of Kansas were discussed, the force 
necessary to control the election was divided in- 
to bands, and leaders selected, means were col- 
lected, and signs and badges were agreed upon. 
While the groat body of the actual settlers of the 
Territory were relying upon the rights secured 
to them by the organic law, and had formed no 
organization or combination whatever even of a 
party character, this conspiracy against their 
rights was gathering strength in a neighboring 
State, and would have been sufficient at their first 
election to have overpowered them, if they had 
been xmited to a man. 

Your Committee had great difficulty in elicit- 
ing the proof of the details in regard to this secret 
society. One witness, member of the legislative 
council, refused to answer questions in reference 
to it (2). Another declined to answer fnlly, be- 
cause to do so would result to his injury (3). 
Others could or would only answer as to the gene- 
ral purposes of the Society, but sufficient is dis- 
closed in the testimony to show the influence it 
had in controlling the elections in the Territory. 

The first election was for a Delegate to Con- 
gress. It was appointed for the 29th of Novem- 
ber, 1854. The Governor divided the Territory 
into seventeen Election-Districts ; appointed 
Judges and prescribed proper rules for the elec- 
tion. In the 1st, Illd, Vlllth, IXth, Xth, Xllth, 
Xlllth, and XVIIth Districts there appears to 
have been but little if any fraudulent voting. 

The election in the lid District was held at the 
village of Douglas, nearly fifty miles from the 
Missouri line. On the day before the election, 
large companies of men came into the district in 
wagons and on horseback, and declared that they 
were from the State of Missouri, and were going 
to Douglas to vote. On the morning of the 
election they gathered around the house where 
the election was to be held. Two of the Judges 
appointed by the Governor did not appear, and 
other Judges were elected by the crowd. All 
then voted. In order to make a pretense of 
right to vote, some persons of the company kept 
a pretended register of squatter claims, on which 
any one could enter his name and then assert he 
had a claim in the Territory. A citizen of the 
district who was himself a candidate for Delegate 
to Congress, was told by one of the strangers, 
that he would be abused and probably killed if he 
challenged a vote (4). He was seized by the collar, 
called a d^-d Abolitionist, and was compelled to 
seek protection in the room with the Judges. 
About the time the polls were closed, these 
strangers mounted their horses and got into their 
wagons and cried out — 

" All aboard for Westport and Kansas City." 
A number were recognized as residents of Mis- 
som'i, and among them was Samuel H. Woodson, 
a leading lawyer of Independence. Of those 
whose names are on the poll-books, 35 were resi- 
dent settlers and 226 were nonresidents. 

The election in the IVth District was held at 
Dr. Chapman's, over 40 miles from the Missouri 
State line. It was a thinly-settled region, con- 
taining but 47 voters in February, 1855, when 
the census was taken. On the day before the 
election, from 100 to 150 citizens of Cass and 
Jackson Counties, Mo., came into this district, 
declaring their purpose to vote, and that they 
were bound to make Kansas a Slave State, if 
they did it at the point of the sword (5). Persons 
of the party on the way drove each a stake in the 
ground and called it a claim — and in one case 
several names were put on one stake. The par- 
ty of strangers camped all night near where the 



(2) W. P. Richardson. (3) 0. C. Prince. 
A. Wakefield. (5) Peter Bassinger. 



(4) John 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



121 



election wns to bo held, and in the mornine: wore 
at tho olection-pDlls and voted. Ono of tiieir 
party j^ot <lruiik, mid to tji't rid of Dr. t'liiipmuii, 
a jud-^'o of tho clfctioii, thoy Hont for liim l<i cunie 
and soo (V sick umii, mid in iiirt aliHoiice lilk'd liin 
plnoo witli aiiDiii.'r jud^o, wlio wiis nnt sworn. 
They <lid not deny or conooal tiiat tiu'y w< re re- 
Bidonts of Mirttiouii, and many of tiicni wero re- 
cognized as Hucli hy otiior.-<. Tlioy dccliin-d tlmt 
tliey were tiound to niiike Kansas a ^SIave State. 
Tiiey insisted upon tlieir rigiit to vote in tiie Ter- 
ritory if thoy were in it one hour. After tlie elee- 
tion "iliey a^ain returned to tlu-ir homes in MIh- 
bouri, canipiuf^ over nijjlit on tho way. 

We find uiHiii the poll-books llii names ; of 
these not over 'M resided in tlio Territory, I'U wero 
uon-residenta ((>). 

Hut few settlers attended the election in the 
Vth District, tho District beiiifj largo and tlie set- 
tlement scattered. 82 votes were cast ; of these 
between 120 and 30 were settlers (7), and tiio resi- 
due Were citizens of Missouri. Tlioy passed into 
the Territory (8) by way of the Santa Fo road 
and by the residence of Dr. Westfall, wiio tlien 
lived on tlio western line of Missouri (!>). Some 
little excitement arose at tho polls as to the legal- 
ity of their voting, but tiiey did vote for (ieu. 
Whitlield, and said they intended to make Kan- 
sas a Slave State — and that they had claims in 
the Territory. Judge Teazle, judge of the Court 
in Jackson County, Missouri, was present, but 
did not vote (9). He said ho did not intend to 
vote, but came to sec that others voted. After 
tho election, the Missourians returned the way 
thev came. 

Iho election in the Vlth District was held at 
Fort Scott, in tho southeast part of the Terri- 
tory and near the Missouri line. A party of 
about one hundred men, from Cass and the conn- 
ties in Missouri south of it, went into tho Terri- 
tory, traveling about 4.j miles, most of them 
with their wagons and tents, and camping out. 
They appeared at the place of election. Some 
attempts were made to swear them, but two of 
the Judges were prevailed upon not to do so, and 
none were sworn, and as many as chose voted. 
There were but few resident voters at the polls. 
The selllement was sparse — about 25 actual set- 
tlers voted out of 105 votes cast, leaving 80 ille- 
gal votes (10). After the voting was over the 
Missourians went to their wagons and commenced 
leaving for home. 

The most sliameless fraud practiced upon the 
rights of the settlers at this election was in the 
Vllth District. It is a remote .settlement about 
75 miles from the Jlissouri line, and contained in 
February, a. u. 1855, three months afterwards, 
when the census was taken, but 53 voters; and 
vet the poll-books show that G04 votes were cast. 
The election was held at the house of Frey Mc- 
Gee, at a place called " 110." But few of the 
actual settlers were present at tho pidls (11). A 
■witness who formerly resided in Jackson County, 
Mo., and was well acquainted with the citizens 
of that county (12), says that ho saw a great 
many wagons and tents at the place of election, 
and many individuals he knew from Jackson 
County. He was in their tents and conversed 
witli some of them, and they told him they iiad 
come with the intention of voting. He went to 
the polls intending to vote for Flennckin, and 
his ticket being of a difl'crent color from the rest, 
his vote was challenged by Frey Mctiee, who 
had been appointed one of the Judges but did 
not serve. Lemuel Kalstone, a citizen of Mis- 
souri, was acting in his place. The witness then 
challenged the vote of a young man by tho 

(6) Thomas Hopkins, Rubin Hacket, Porry Fuller, 
John F. Lucas. (7) James W. Wilson. (S) Dr. B. C. 
Westfall. (9) J. W. Wilson. (10) S. C. Prince. (11) 
Matthias A. Jieed. (12) Wm. F. Johnstone. 



name of Nolan, whom he knew to reside in Jack- 
son County. Finally the thing was liuslied up 
MS the witness had a good many friends thero 
from that eoiinly, and it might lead to a li;rht if 
he challenged any more vote."". Holh voted and 
he then Went down to their camp, lie thero saw 
many of his old aei[uaintaiice8 n-hoin he knew 
lia<l voted at tho election in August previous in 
Missouri, and who still resided in that State. 
Hy a careful eom])arison of tho poll lists with tho 
census rolls, we liiid but 12 names on the poll- 
bo(dc who wero voters when the census was 
taken three months afterwards, and we are sat- 
islied that not nioro lliaii 20 legal votes could 
have been polled at that (dection. Tho only re- 
sitlonts who nw, known to have voted are named 
by tlio witiu^ss, mid aro 13 in number — thus 
leaving Mi illegal votes cast in a remote dis- 
trict, wliert^ tho settlers within many miles were 
acipiainted with each other. 

The total number of white inhabitants in tho 
Xlth District in the nioiith of February, a. d. 
1855, including men, women, and children, was 
3(5, of whom 21 were voters — yet the poll-lists in 
this District show that 215 votes were cast at 
this election. For reasons stated hereafter in 
regard to the election on the 30th of March, your 
Committee were unable to procure the attend- 
ance of witnesses from this District. From tho 
records it clearly appears that the votes cast 
could not have been by lawful resident voters. 
The best test, in tho absence of direct proof, by 
which to ascertain the number of legal votes 
cast, is by a comparison of the census-roll with 
tho poll-book — by which it ap{)oars that but 7 
resident settlers voted, and 238 votes were ille- 
gally and fraudulently given. 

The election in the XlVth District was held 
at the house of Benjamin Harding, a few miles 
from the town of St. Joseph, JMissouri. Before 
the polls were opened, a large number of citi- 
zens of Buchanan County, Jhssouri, and among 
them many of the leading citizens of St. Joseph, 
were at the place of voting, and made a majori- 
ty of the Company present. At the time ap- 
pointed by the (iovernor for opening the polls, 
two of the Juilges were not there, and it becaraa 
the duty of the legal voters present to select 
other Judges. The Judge who was present (13) 
suggested the name of Mr. Waterson as one of 
the Judges — but the crowd voted down the pro- 
position. Some discussion then arose as to the 
right of non-residents to vote forjudges, during 
which Mr. Bryant was nouunated and elected 
by the cro\vd. Some one nominated Col. John 
Scott as the other Judge, who was then and is 
now a resident of St. Joseph. At that time ho 
was the City Attorni'y of that place, and so con- 
tinued until this Spring, but he claimed that the 
night before he had come to the house of Mr. 
Bryant, and had engaged boarding for a month, 
and considered himself a resident of Kansas on 
that ground. The Jiulges appointed by tho 
Governor refused to put the nomination of Col. 
Scott to vote, because ho was not a resident. 
After some discussion. Judge Leonard, a citizen 
of Missouri, stepped forward and put the vote 
himself; and Mr. Scott was declared by him as 
elected by the crowd, and served as a Judge of 
Election that day. After the election was over 
he returned to St. Joseph, and never since has 
rcxidcd in the Territory. It is manifest that this 
election of a non-resident lawyer as a Judge was 
imposed upon tho settlers by tho citizens of tho 
State. When tho board of Judges was thus 
completed, tho voting proceeded, but the eftect of 
the rule adopted by the Judges allowed many, if 
not a majority of tlie non-residents, to vote. They 
olaimed that thoir presence on tho ground, es* 

(13) Benjamin Harding, 



122 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



pecially when they had a claim in the Territory, 
gave them a rifcl't to vote — under tliat construc- 
tion of the law tliey readily, when required, swore 
they were " residents" and then voted. By this 
evasion, as near as your Committee can ascer- 
tain from the testimony, as many as 50 illegal 
votes were cast in this District out of 153, the 
whole number iiolled. 

The election in the XVth District was held at 
Penseman's, on Stranger Creek, a few miles 
from Weston, IMissouri. On the day of the elec- 
tion a large number of citizens of Platte County, 
but chiefly from Weston and Platte City, came 
in small parties, in wagons and on horseback, to 
the polls. Among them were several leading 
citizens of that town, and the names of many of 
them are given by the witnesses (14). They 
generally insisted upon Iheii- right to vole, on the 
ground that every man having a claim in the 
Territory could vote, no matter where he lived 
(15). All voted who chose. No man was chal- 
lenged or sworn. Some of the residents did not 
vote. The purpose of the strangers in voting was 
declared to be to make Kansas a Slave State 
(16). We find by the poll-books that 306 votes 
were cast — of these we find but 57 are on the 
census-rolls as legal voters in February follow- 
ing. Your Committee is satisfied from the testi- 
mony that not over 100 of those who voted had 
any right so to do, leaving at least !206 illegal 
votes cast. 

The election in the XVIth District was held at 
Leavenworth. It was then a small village of 
three or four hout^es, located on the Delaware 
Reservation (17). There were but comparative- 
ly few settlers then in the district, but the num- 
ber rapidly increased afterward. On the day 
before and on the day of the election, a great 
many citizens of Platte, Clay, and Ray counties 
crossed the river — most of them camping in tents 



and wagons about the town, " like a camp meet- 
ing" (IS). They were in companies or messes of 
ten to fifteen in each, and numbered in all several 
hundred. They brought their own provisions 
and cooked it themselves, and were generally 
armed. Many of them were known by the wit- 
nesses, and their names given, and their names 
are found upon the poll-books. Among them 
were several persons of influence where they re- 
sided in Missouri, who held, or had held, high 
oflSeial positions in that State. They claimed to 
be residents of the Territory, from the fact that 
they were then present, and insisted upon the 
right to vote, and did vote. Their avowed pur- 
pose in doing so was to make Kansas a Slave 
State. These strangers crowded around the 
polls, and it was with great difficulty that the 
settlers could get to the polls (19). One resident 
attempted to get to the polls in the afternoon, but 
was crovvded and pulled back. He then went 
outside of the crowd and hurrahed for Gen. 
Whitfield, and some of those who did not know 
him said, " that's a good Pro-Slavery man," and 
lifted him up over their heads so that he crawl- 
ed on their heads and put in his vote. A person 
who saw from the color of his ticket that it was 
not for Gen. Whitfield, cried out, " He is a 
damned Abolitionist — let him down;" and they 
dropped him (120). Others were passed to the 
polls in the same way, and others crowded up 
in the best way they could. After this mock- 
ery of an election was over, the non-residents 
returned to their homes in Missouri. Of the 
312 votes cast, not over 150 were by legal 
voters. 

The following abstract exhibits the whole num- 
ber of votes at this election, for each candidate ; 
the number of legal and illegal votes cast in 
each district ; and the number of legal votes in 
each district in February following : 



ABSTRACT OF CENSUS AND ELECTION OF NOV. 29, 1854. 



I 

II 
in 
IV 

V 

TI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 
X 

XI 

XII 

XIII 

XIV 

XV 
XVI 

xva 

XVIII 



Place of Votinq. 



Lawrence 

Douglas 

Sliosou's — - — .- 
Dr. Chapman's — 

H. Sherman's 

Fort Scott 

"116" 

C"uncil Criove 

Re\nold'8 

Big Blue Cross... 

Marvsville 

Warton's Store... 

Osawkie 

Harding's ... . 

Penseno . 

Leavenworth 

Shawnee Agency 



Total 2268 i 249 



46 
235 

40 
140 

63 
105 
697 

16 

9 

2 

237 

31 

69 
130 
267 
232 

49 



300 

261 

47 

161 

82 

105 

t04 

16 

40 

37 

245 

41 

71 

153 

306 

312 

62 

28 



305 I 21 I 2871 



369 

199 

101 

47 

442 

253 

63 

39 

36 

63 

24 

78 

96 

334 

3C8 

385 

50 



300 
35 
47 
30 
30 
25 
2 
16 
40 
37 
7 
41 
71 
103 
100 
150 



1114 



131 
52 
80 

584 



50 
206 
162 



1729 



Thus your Committee find that in this the first 
election in the Territory, a very large majority 
of the votes were cast by citizens of the State of 

(14) J. B. Crano, Frances M. Peter, John W. 
How, Phineas Skinner, H. B. Gale. (15) .T. B. Crane. 
(18) H. B. Gale. (17) George H. Keller, and John 
A-LuDday. 



Missouri, in violation of the organic law of 
tlie rerritory. Of the legal votes oast. General 
Whitfield received a plurality, llie settlers took 
but little interest in the election, not one-half of 



(18-) Geo. H. Keller. (19) John A. Lunday, L. L. 
Easdreau. (20) John A. Lunday. 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLK 



12S 



them voting. This mny be accouiitcil for, from 
the faot fhiit tlie xcttlunients were scutti rcil ovi-r 
a great txliiit — lliiit (In- toriii of llio l)<li'},'iilc' 
to bo flfcti'il WHU bliorl — iiinl that tliv iiiif(<lii)ii 
of Frei' and Slavo iiistitutioiis was uol goiieral- 
ly rojjardid by llitiii a8 di.stiiii'tly at issue. Un- 
der tliesi- circunistanred a >y.slenialie invaHion 
from an adjoiniug Statt , by whicli larj,'e number^ 
of illegal voli-s wore car<t in niiiote and siiar.si 
Beltlenu-nt« for tlio avowed purpoae of ixt<-nd 
iug Sluvfiy into tU« Territory, even tliough il 



did not change tlio result of the election, woa a 

irime of great ningnilude. IIm immediate effect 
wan to finllier exeiti- the people of the Northern 
Staled — induce acl^^ of rettdiatiun, and e-vaspo- 
lati' ilio aeliial Hettlurii ugainut their neighbors 
in iMi^^^o^^■i. 

In January and February, A. n. lHr>.'), the 
(Jov< riior i-auMed an enumeration to bo tak- 
en of the inhabitant:* and ((ualitied votern in 
the Territory, an abtttract of whieh is hero 
given: 



ABSTRACT OF CENSUS RETURNS. 



By 


DrSTBlOTS 


m 


a 

B 




■a. 

5' 
3 


sT " 

I ° 

! S- 
. » 

I <^ 

1 2. 

! a. 

887 
508 
215 
16!) 
1385 
791 
117 

76 

66 
108 

30 
109 
273 
301 
840 
1042 
143 

97 


3 
s 
5 
a- 

76 
19 
12 

2 
22 
12 

1 

7 
12 
23 

6 
37 

9 
46 
16 
104 

5 

1 


<r> 

3 

r> 

1 
1 

27 
11 
1 
13 
14 

1 
14 

1 
15 
48 

4 


Si 

7 

6 

1 

26 

11 

1 

10 

3 

7 
14 
35 
15 
33 
23 


£ 

962 

619 

252 

177 

141)7 

810 

118 

83 

86 

151 

86 

144 

284 

1167 

873 

118S 

150 

99 


C VV. l!;ibcock 


I 

II 
III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

XI 

XII 

XIII 

XIV 

XV 

XVI 

XVII 

XVIII 


02:! 

31(3 

101 

lOS 

824 

49: 

82 

56 

61 

97 

33 

104 

168 

655 

492 

708 

91 

59 

5128 


203 

91 

71 

5S3 

318 

36 

27 

25 

54 

3 

40 

116 

512 

3S1 

475 

59 

40 

3373 


369 

19" 

101 

47 

442 

253 

53 

39 

36 

t3 

24 

78 

96 

334 

308 

3^6 

^o 

28 

2905 


4.^9 

237 

112 

97 

724 

418 

60 

28 

31 

61 

5 

35 

145 

448 
514 
54 
51 




T W t'liyes . 








J 11 McClurc — 










B. H. Tiviiaibly — 


H B Jolly — 


Albert IWed 


11 B .lolly 




Alex. S. Joliuson 


Total 


3469 


7161 


400 


151 


242 


J501 



On the same day the cen.sus was completed, 
the Gov'.rnor issued his I'roelnmatiou for an 
election to bo held on the 30lh of March, A. D. 
1855, for Members of the Legislative Assembly 
of the Territory. It prescribed the boundaries 
of Districts ; the jdaccs for polls ; the names of 
Judj^es ; the appointment of members ; and re- 
cited the qualitication of voters. If it had been 
observed, a just and fair election would have 
reflected the will of the people of the Territory. 
Before the election, false and inflammatory ru- 
mors were busily eirci\lated amoMg the people of 
Western Missouri. The number and character of 
the emigration then passing into the Territory 
were grossly exaggerated and misrepresented. 
Through the active exertions of many of its lead- 
ing citizens, aided by the secret societies before 
reterred to, the passions and prejudices of the 
people of that State were greatly excited. Seve- 
ral residents there have testified to the character 
of the report.s circuluted among, and credited by, 
the people. These etVorts were successful, liy 
on organized movement, which extended from 
Andrew County in the north to Jasper County 
in the south, and as far eastward as Boone and 
Colo Counties, companies of men were arranged 
in regular parties and sent ittto every Council- 
District in the Territory, and into every Repre- 
scnlntivc District but one. The numbers were 
80 distributed as to control the election in each 
district. They went to vote and with the avowed 
design to make Kansas a Slave State, They 
were generally armed and ecjuipped, carried witii 
them their own provisions and tents, and -so 
marched into the Territory. The details of this 
invasion from the muss of the testimony taken 



by your Committee, are so voluminous that we 
can here state but the leading facts elicited. 



1st District — March 30, 1855. — Lawrence. 

The company of persons who marched into 
this District, collected in Ray, Howard, Carroll, 
Boone, La Fayette, Randolph, Saline, and Cass 
Counties, in the state of Missouri. Their ex- 
penses were paid — those who could not come 
contributing provisions, wagons, etc. (21). Pro- 
visions were deposited, for tliose who were ex- 
pected to come to Lawrence, in the house of 
William Lykins, and were distributed among 
the Missourians after they arrived there (22). 
The evening before and the morning of the day 
of election, about 1,01)0 men from the above 
counties arrived at Lawrence, and encamped 
in a ravine a short distance from town, near the 
place of voting. They came in wagon.s — of which 
there were over one hundred — and on horse- 
back, under the command of Col. Samuel Young, 
of Boone County, Missouri, and Clayborne 
F. Jackson, of Missouri. They were armed 
with guns, riflos, pistols, and bowie-knives, and 
had tents, music, and flags with them (23). They 
brought with them two uicces of arlillery (24). 



(21) F. p. Vau?han. Jourdan DaTidson. (22) Wra. 
Tate», 0. W. Bibcock. Dr. John Day. (2.{) E D. 
Ladd. Norman Allen. \Vm Yates. Win. B. Hornsby, 
G. W. Dietzler, 0. W. I'abcock. Lyman Allen. S N., 
Wood, E. Cliapman, Robert Elliott, N W. Blanton. 
Jourdau Davi.lson, \Vm. Lvon. J. B. Abbott. Ira. W, 
Ackley. Dr. John D.iy, A. B. Wade. John M. Banks. 
U. W. Buckley. (24) E- Chapmau, Jouidan DavidiuD. 



124 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



loaded vnth. musket-balls (25). Ou their way to 
Lawrence 8ome of them met Mr. N. li. Blanton, 
who had been appointed one of the Judges of 
Election by Gov. Keeder, and after learning 
fi'om him that he considered it his duty to de- 
maud an oath from them as to their place of re- 
sidence, first attempted to bribe, and then threat- 
ened him with hanging, iu order to induce him to 
dispense with that oath. In consequence of these 
threats, he did not appear at the polls the next 
morning to act as Jud^e (26). 

The evening before the election, while in camp, 
the Missourians were called together at the tent 
of Captain Claiborne P. Jackson, and speeches 
were made to them by Col. Young and others, 
calling for volunteers to go to other districts 
where there were not Missourians enough to 
control the election, and there were more at 
Lawrence than were needed there (27). Many 
volunteered to go, and the morning of the elec- 
tion, several companies, from 150 to 200 men 
each, went off to Tecumseh, Hickory Point, 
Bloomington, and other places (28). Ou the 
morning of the election, the Missourians came 
over to the place of voting from their camp, in 
bodies of one hundred at a time (29). Mr. 131an- 
ton not appearing, another Judge was appointed 
in his place — Col. Young claiming that, as the 
people of the Territory had two Judges, it was 
nothing more than right that the Missourians 
should have the other one, to look after their in- 
terests (30) ; and Robert E. Cummins was elect- 
ed in Blauton's stead, because he considered 
that every man had a right to vote if he had 
been in the Territory but an hour (31). The Mis- 
sourians brought their tickets with them, (32) ; 
but not having enough, they had three hundred 
more printed in Lawrence ou the evening before 
and the day of election (33). They had white 
ribbons in their button-holes to distinguish them- 
selves from the settlers (34). 

When the voting commenced, the question of 
the legality of the vote of a Mr. Pa^e was raised. 
Before it was decided, Col. Samuel Young stepped 
up to the window where the votes were received, 
and said he would settle the matter. The vote 
of Mr. Page was withdrawn, and Col. Y'oung 
offered to vote. He refused to take the oath 
prescribed by the Governor, but swore he was a 
resident of the Territory, upon which his vote 
was received (35). He told Mr. Abbott, one of 
the Judges, when asked if he intended to make 
Kansas his future home, that it was none of his 
business ; that if ho were a resident then, he 
should ask no moi-e (36). After his vote was re- 
cpived. Col. Young got up in the window-sill and 
announced to the crowd that ho had been per- 
mitted to vote, and they could all come up and 
vote (37). He told the Judges that there was no 
use in swearing the others, as they would all 
swear as he had done (38). Afterthe other Judges 
concluded to receive Col. Young's vote, Mr. Ab- 
bott resigned as Judge of Election, and Mr. 
Benjamin was elected m his place (39). 

The polls were so much crowded until late in 
the evening, that, for a time, when the men had 
voted, they were obliged to get out by being 
hoisted up on the roof of the building where the 
election was being held, and pass out over the 

(25) E. Chapman. (26) N. B. Blanton. (27) Norman 
Allen, J. Davidson. (28) Norman Allen, Wm. Yates, 
W. B. Hornsby, C. W. Babcock, S. N. Wood, J. David- 
son, A. B. Wade. (29) E. D. Ladd. (30) S. N. Wood. 
(31) R. A. Cummina. Norman Allen, S. N. Wood, C. S. 
Pratt, J. B. Abbott. (.32) C. W. Babcock, Robert 
Elliott. (33) Robert Elliott. (34) E. W, Dietzler. 
(35) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, S, N. Wood, C. S. 
Pratt, J. B. Abbott. (3C) Norman Allen, .1. B, Abbott. 
(37) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, S. N. Wood, C. S. 
Pratt. J. B. Abbott. (3S) C. W. Babcock, J. B. Abbott. 
(39) 0. W. Babcock, S, N. Wood, C. S. Pratt, J. B, 
Abbott. 



house (40). Afterward a passageway through 
the crowd was made, by two lines of men being 
formed, through which the voters could get up 
to the polls (41). Col. Young asked that the old 
men be allowed to go up first and vote, as they 
were tired with the traveling, and wanted to get 
back to camp (42). 

The Missourians sometimes came up to the 
polls iu procession, two by two, and voted (43). 

During the daj' the Missourians drove off the 
ground some of the citizens, Mr. Stevens, Mr. 
Bond, and Mr. Willis (44). They threatened to 
shoot Mr. Bond, and a crowd rushed after him 
threatening him, and as he ran from them some 
shots were tired at him as he jumped ofi" the bank 
of the river and made his escape (4.5). The citi- 
zens of the town went over iu a body, late in the 
afternoon, when the poUs had become compara- 
tively clear, and voted (46). 

Before the voting had commenced, the Mis- 
sourians said, if the Judges appointed by the 
Governor did not receive their votes, they would 
choose other Judges (47). Some of them voted 
several times, changing their hats or coats and 
coming up to the window again (48). They said 
they intended to vote first, and after they had 
got through then the others could vote (4!)). 
Some of them claimed a right to vote under the 
organic act, from the fact that their mere pre- 
sence in the Territory constituted them residents, 
though they were from Wisconsin, and had homes 
in Missouri (50). Others said they had a right 
to vote, because Kansas belonged to Missouri, 
and people from the east had no right to settle in 
the Territory and vote there (51). They said they 
came to the Territory to elect a legislature to 
suit themselves, as the people of the Territory 
and persons from the east and north wanted to 
elect a legislature that would not suit them (52). 
They said they had a right to make Kansas a 
Slave State, because the people of the north had 
sent persons out to make it a Free State (53). 
Some claimed that they had heard that the Emi- 
grant Aid Society had sent men out to be at the 
election, and they came to offset their votes; but 
the most of them made no such claim. Col. 
Y'oung said he wanted the citizens to vote in 
order to give the election some show of fairness 
(54). The Missourians said there would be no 
difficulty if the citizens did not interfere with 
their voting, but they were determined to vote — 
peaceably, if they could, but vote any how (55). 
They said each one of them was prepared for 
eight rounds without loading, and would go the 
ninth round with the butcher knife (56). Some 
of them said that by voting in the Territory, they 
would deprive themselves of the right to vote in 
Missouri for twelve, months afterward (57). 

The Missourians began to leave the afternoon 
of the day of election, though some did not go 
home until the next morning (58). 

In many cases, when a wagon-load had voted, 

(40) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, C. W. Babcock, Ly- 
man Allen, J. M. Banks. (41) E. D. Ladd, Norman 
Allen, Lyman Allen. (42) Lyman Allen, E. D. Ladd. 
(43) E. D. Ladd, Ira W. Acklev. (44) E. D. Ladd, C. 
W. Babcock, Lyman Allen, S. N. Wood, N. B. Blanton, 
John Dey, J. Davidson, Charles Robinson. (45) E. D. 
Ladd, 0. W. Babcock, Lyman Allen, S. N. Wood. N. 
B. Blanton, J. Davidson, Dr. John Dey. (46) E. D. 
Ladd, C. Robinson, A. B. Wade, J. Whitlock, J. M. 
Banks, H. W. Buckley. (47) G. W. Deitzler. (4S) S. 
N. Wood, Ira W. Ackley. (49) J.Davidson. (50) E. 
D. Ladd. Norman Allen, Lyman Allen. (51) W. B. 
Hornsby, C. W. Babcock, C. Robinson. (52) Wm. 
Yates, Thos. Hopkins, Ira W. Ackley. (53) Lyman Al- 
len, J. Davidson. (54) Norman Allen. (55) Norman Al- 
len, Lyman Allen, C W. Bubcuck, S. N. Wood, F. Chap- 
man, Thos. Hopkins. (60j Jourdan Davidson. (57) J. B. 
Abbott, (68) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, Wm. Yates, 
W. B. Hornsby. G. W. Dietzler, C. W. Babcock, C. 
Robinson, E. Chapman, Lyman Allen, J. David- 
son, 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



12& 



they imiiicfliulrly ftnitcil for home (59). On 
their way hoiiu-" they HiiiJ that if Governor 
Rcedcr did imt sanction the election, they would 
hanfj him (('>()). 

The citizens of the town of Liiwrenci-, as ii 
general tliiiiir, were not anin-d on ilio day of 
election, lli()ii;,'h some had revolve r.-<, but not 
exposed, as wen- the iinnsof tlieMissoiirians (til). 
They kept a piard about the town the nlKlit 
after the .•leelion, in consequenee of the threats 
of the Jlissourian.-i, iu order to nrotect it {i'>'2). 

The I'ro Slavery nii'n of the l)istrict attended 
the ni>niinaiiii;r Conventions of the Frei- Siuti' 
nwn, and voted for, and sieurid tlio noniinatinns 
of, till' nn'n they eousidi-red the most obnoxious 
to the Free State party, in order to cause dis- 
sension in that party (03). 

Quite a number of settlers came into the Dis- 
trict before the day of election, and after the 
Census wius taken (64). Aceordin;^ to tlit^ census 
returns, there were then in the District 3lj9 lefjal 
voters. Of tliose whose names are on the census 
returns, 177 are to be tbund on the jioUbooks of 
the30thcif March, 1855. Messrs. Ladd, Hubcock 



tt short time, when Mr. Jones marciicd with the 
crowd up ti) the window, and demanded that they 
should lie allowed to vote without .iwiarin^; as 
to tliiir residincc d'lH). AfliT some noisy and 
thnateniin; talk Claiborne F. Jackson addressed 
the cmwd, saving; lie y had come there to vote, 
that they ha<l a rif;ht to vote if they had been 
there but live minulcsj and he was not willing to 
f^o home wiihout votm;;; which was received 
with eheei-H (G'J). Jackson then called upon them 
to form into liltle iiamU of lift.cn or twenty, 
which they did (7(1), and went to an o.\ wajjon 
tilled with ^'uns, which were distributeil among 
them (71), and proceeded to load ^ome of thcni 
on the -ground (7".J). In pursuance of Ja<'kson'a 
rtxpiest. they tied white tape or ribbons in their 
buttonJiolcs, so as to distinguish tliem from the 
"Abolitionists" (73). They aj^ain demunded that 
tlio Jud^fcs should rcsit,'n, and ujion their refus- 
inj^ to do so, smashed iu the window, sa>h and 
all, ami presented their pistoU and f^uns to them, 
fJireatenmf,' to shoot them (71). Some one on tho 
outside cried out to tliem not to shoot, as there 
Were Pro-Slavery men in tlie room with the 



and I'ratt, testily to 55 names on the poll-books Judr,'cs (75). They tlien i)Ut a pry under the cor- 

of persons they knew to have settled in the Dis- ner of the house, which was a loj^ house, and 

trict ut'ter the census was taken and before the lifted it up a few inches and let it fall attain (76), 

election. A number of persons came into tho but desisted upon beinj^ told there were I'ro- 

Territory in March, before the election, from the S1ji\ ery men iu tlio house. Duriiifj this time tho 

northern and eastern States, intending to settle, crowd repeatedly demanded to be allowed to vote 

who were in Lawrence on the day of election, without bein;^ sworn, and Mr. EUison, one of the 

At that time, many of them had selected no Judges, expressed hiinseifwillinj^, but the other 

claims, anil had no fixed place of residence, two Judges refused (77) : thi-reupon a body of 

Such were not entitled to vote. Many of them men, hetided by " Sherift' Jones," rushed into 



became dissatisfied with the country. Other 
were disappointed in its nolitical condition, and 
at the price and demand tor labor, and returned. 
Whether any such voted at the election, is not 
clearly shown, but from the proof, it is probable 
that in the latter part of the day, after the great 
body of the Missouritius had voted, some did go 
to the polls. The number was not over 50. These 
voted the Free-State ticket. The whole number 
of names appearing upon the poll-lists is 1,034. 
After full examination, we are satisfied that not 
over ~i2 of llieso were legal voters, and 802 were 
non-resident and illegal votci's. This District is 
Btrontdy in favor of making Kansas a Free State, 
and there is no doubt that the Free-State candi- 
dates for the legislature would have been elected 
by large majorities, if none but the actual settlers 
had voted. At the preceding election in Novem- 
ber, 1854, where none but legal voters were 
polled. General Whitfield, who received the full 
strength of the Tro-Slavcry party (G5), got but 
46 votes. 

II. District — Bloo.mi.ngto.v. 

On the morning of election, the Judges ap- 
pointed by tho Governor appeared and opened 
tho poUs. Their names were Harrison liurson, 
Nathaniel Kainsay, (uid Mr. Ellison. The Mis- 
sourians began to come in early iu the morning, 
some 500 or (JOO of them, in wagons and carriages, 
and on horseback, under tlic lead of Samuel J. 
Jones, then Postma.stcr of Westport, Missouri, 
Claiborne F. Jack-on, and Mr. Steely, of Inde- 
pendence, Mo. They were armed with double- 
barreled guns, rifles, bowie-knives and pistols, 
and hail fiags hoisted {Giij. They held a sort of 
informal election, off at one side, at first for Gov- 
ernor of Kansas, and shortly afterward announced 
Thomas Johnson of Shawnee Missions, elected 
Governor (67). The polls had been opened but 

(59) S. N. Wooa. (80) Gaius Jenkins. (61) E. D 
Ladd. (62) E. D. Ladd. (63) A. B Wade. (64) E. 
D. Ladd, Norman .A.llen, G.W. Babcoi-k, Oiarles Roh- 
insoD, Lyman Alien, J. M. Banks, (fyj James Whit- 
lock. (66) H. liurson. N. Ramsay, James M. Dunn, 
Andrew White. IT. E. O. Macoy, H. Miiz/.y, Wm. Jes- 
see, John A. Wakefield. (67) £. Q. Mucey. 



the Judges' room with cocked pistols and drawn 
bowie-knives in their hands, and ajiproached 
IJurson and Ilamsay (78). Jones jiuUed out his 
watch, and .said he would give them five minutes 
to resign iu, or die (79). When the five mi- 
nutes had expired and the Judges did not resign, 
Jones said he would give them another minute, 
and no more (80). Ellison told his associates 
that if they did not resign, there would be one 
hundred shots fired in tlie room in less than 
fifteen minutes (81) ; and then, snatching up the 
ballot-box, ran out into the crowil, holding up 
the ballot-box and hurrahing for Jlissouri (82). 
About that time liurson and Kanisay were called 
out by their fi-iends, and not suffered to return 
(83). As Mr. Burson went out, he put the ballot 
poll-books in his pocket, and took them with him 
(84) ; and as he was going out, Jones snatched 
some papers away from him (85), and shortly 
afterward came out himself holding them up, 
crying "hurrah for Missouri ' (8t)). After he dis- 
covered they were not the poll-books, he took a 
party t>f men with him and started olf to take 
the poll-books from Burson (87). Mr. Burson 
saw them coming, and he gave the books to Mr. 
Umberger, and told hiin to start off in another 
direction, so as to mislead Jones and his party 
(88). Jones and his party caught Mr. Umberger, 
took the poll -books away from him, and Jones 

(68) H. Burson, N. Ramsay, J. M. Dunn, A. White, E. 
G. Macey. H. .Muzzy, Win. Jessce, Ji.hu A. Wakefield. 
(1.9) J. M. riuun, A. White, E.G. Macev, J. S. Wakefield. 
(70) E. a. Mucv-v, J A. Wakefield. (71) J. M. Dunn, 
J. C. Dunn, A. White. (72) B. O Macev (73) J. M. 
Dunn, J. N. .Mace, A. White, i: G Mac.y, J. A. Wake- 
fiehl. (74) II. Burson, N. Rim.-iay. .7;^) J. C. Dunn. 
(70) H. liurson, N. Uamsay, J. W. Mace, J C. Dunn, 
A. White, E. G. Macev, H. .Muzzv, .•*. Jones J- A. 
Wakefield, (77) J. C. Dun, (7K) II liinsoa, X. Ilamsaj-. 
(79) II. Burson, N. Uainsay, J, C. Dunn, II. .Muzzy. W. 
Jessce (SO) H. Bur,-iin, N. Uainsay. II, .Muzzy. (81) II. 
Biiraon, N. liamsay, J. N. Macey. II. Muzzy, W. Jes- 
aoc, S. Jones, J, A. Wakefield. (82) II Bur.son. J. 0. 
Dunn. (S3) II. Burson, N. Kamrtay, J, C, Dunn, A. 
AVhite, H. -Muzzy. Wm. Jessie. (84) II Burton, Wm. 
Jessec. (.^b) H. tlurson. (SO) H. Uuisoii. J M. Dunn, 
E. G. Macev, Wm. Jeasue (87) H. Burson. .V. Bam- 
say. (SS) fl. Bursou, A. White, 0. W. Umberger, Wm. 
Jusaee. 



126 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



took him up behind him on ahorse, and carried 
him back a prisoner (89). After Jones and his 
part}' liad tukL'n Umberger back, they went to 
the house of Mr. Kanisay and took Judge John 
A. Wakefield prisoner, and earned him to the 
place of election (90), and made him get up on 
a wagon and make tliem a speech ; after which 
they put a white ribtion in his button-hole and 
let him go (91). Tliey then chose two new 
Judges, and proceeded with the election 
(92). 

They also threatened to kill the Judges if they 
did not receive their votes without swearing Ihem, 
or else resign (912). They said no man should 
vote who would submit to be sworn — that they 
would kill any one who would offer to do so — 
" shoot him," " cut his guts out,"' etc. (93). They 
said no man should vote this day unless he voted 
an open ticket, and was " all right on the goose," 
(94), and that if Ihcy could not vote by fair 
means, they would by foul means (95). They 
said they had as mucti right to vote, if they had 
been in "the Territory two minutes, as if they had 
been there for two years, and they would vote 
(96). Some of tlie citizens who were about the 
window, but had not voted when the crowd of 
Missourians marched up there, upon attempting 
to vote, were driven back by the mob, or driven 
off (97). One of them, Mr. J. M. Macey, was 
asked if he would take the oath, and upon his re- 
plying that he would if the judges required it, he 
was dragged through the crowd away from the 
polls, amid cries of " Kill the d — d nigger thief," 
"Cut his throat," "Tear his heart out," etc. 
After they got him to the outside of the crowd, 
they stood around liim with cocked revolvers and 
drawn bowie-knives, one man putting a knife to 
his heart, so that it touched him, another holding 
a cocked pistol to his ear, while another struck 
at him with a club (98). The Missourians said 
they had a right to vote if they had been in the 
TeiTitory but five minutes (99). Some said they 
bad been hired to come there and vote, and get 
a dollar a day, and, by G — d, they would vote or 
die there (lOJ). 

Tliey said the 30th day of March was an im- 
portant day, as Kansas would be made a Slave 
State on that day (101). They began to leave in 
the direction of Missouri in the afternoon, after 
they had voted (102), leaving some thirty or forty 
around the house where the election was held, 
to guard the polls until after the election was 
over (103). The citizens of the Territory were not 
around, except those who took part in the mob 
(104), and a large portion of them did not vote 
(105) ; 341 votes were polled there tliat day, of 
which but some thirty were citizens (106). A pro- 
test against the election was made to tlie Gov- 
ernor (107). The returns of the election made to 
the Governor were lost by the Committee of 
Elections of the Legislature at Pawnee (108). 
The duplicate returns left in the ballot-box were 
taken by F. E. Laley, one of the Judges elected 
by tlie Missourians, "and were either lost or de- 



(89) H. Buraon, N. Ramsay, A. White, G. W. 
Umberger, E C. Macey, Win. Jessee, J. A WakefieM. 
(90) N. Ilams^y, J. M. Dunn, A. White, E. a. Macey, 
G. W. Umberger, Wm. Jessee, J. A. Wakefield. (91) 

E. G. Macey, G. W. Umberger, J. A. Wakefield. (9J) 

F. Lahev. (92) J. C. Dunn, Wm Jessee. J. Jones. 
(93) U. iiurson, N. Ramsay, J. M. Dunn, J. N. Mace, 
A. White, E. G Macey. W. Jessee, (94) N. Rarasty 
(95) a. Bursnn, N. Raiiieay, J. M. Dunn. (96) J. M. 
Dunn. (97 I 11 Bur«on, N. Ramsay, Wm, Jessee, J. N, 
Macey. (98) J. N. Macey, H. Muzzy. (99) J. M. Dunn, 
A. White, E. G. Macev. J. A, Wakefield. (.00) J. M. 
Dunn, J. C. Dunn. A "White (101) N. Raniijiv. (102) 
J. C. Duun, A. White. (103) A White. (104) H. 
Burson. (105) H, Burson. J. N. Mace, H. Muzzy. Wm. 
Jessee, J. A. Wakefield (106) U. Burs-n. (107) 
S. Jones, J. A. Wakefield. (108) Daniel Wood- 
man. 



stroycd in his house (109), so that your Commit- 
tee have been unable to institute a comparison 
between the poll-lists and census returns of this 
district. The testimony, however, is unifonn, 
that not even thirty of those who voted there 
that day were entitled to vote, leaving 311 illegiil 
Votes. We are satisfied from the testimony that, 
had the actual settlers alone voted, the Free 
State candidates would have been elected by a 
handsome majority. 

IIId District— Tkccmseh. 

On the 28th of March, persons from Clay, 
Jackson, and Howard Counties, Mo., began io 
come into Tecumseh, in wagons, carriages and 
on horseback, armed with guns, bowie-knives, 
and revolvers; and, with threats, encamped close 
by the town, and continued coming until the 
day of election (110). The night before the elec- 
tion 200 men were sent for from the camp of 
Missourians at Lawrence (111). On the morning 
of the election, before the polls were opened, some 
300 or 400 Missourians and others were collected in 
the yard about the houseof Thomas Stinson, where 
the election was to be held, armed with bowie- 
knives, revolvers, and clubs (112). They said they 
came to vote, and whip the damned Yankees, and 
would vote without being sworn (113). Some said 
they came to have a fight and wanted one (114). 
Col. Samuel H. Woodson of Independence, Mo., 
was in the room of the Judges when they arrived, 
preparing poll-books and tally-lists, and remain- 
ed there during their attempts to organize (114). 
The room of the Judges was also filled by many of 
the strangers (115). The Judges could notagree 
concerning the oath to be taken by themselves 
and the oath to be administered to the voters, 
Mr. Burgess desiring to administer the oath pre- 
scribed i)y the Governor and the other two 
Judges opposing it (116). During this discussion 
between the Judges, which lasted some time, the 
crowd outside became e.xcited and noisy, threat- 
ening and cursing Mr. Burgess, the Free-State 
Judge (117). Persons were sent at different 
times, by the crowd outside, into the room where 
the Judges were, with threatening messages, es- 
pecially against Mr. Burgess, and at last fen min- 
utes were given them to organize in or leave ; and 
as the time passed, persons outside would call out 
the number of minutes left, with threats against 
Bui'gess, if he did not agree to organize (118). 
At the end of that time, the Judges not being 
able to organize, left the room and the crowd 
proceeded to elect nine Judges and can-y on the 
election (119). The Free-State men generally 
left the ground without voting, stating that there 
was no use in their voting there (120). The polls 
were so crowded during the first part of the day 
that the citizens could not get up to the window 
to vote (121). TLu'eats were made against 
the Free-Stale men (122). In the afternoon the 
Rev. Mr. Gispatrick was attacked and driven off 
by the mob. A man, by some called " Texas," 
made a speech to the crowd urging them to vote 
and to remain on the ground until the polls were 
closed, for fear the abohtiouists would come there 
in the afternoon and overpower them, and thus 
they would lose all their trouble. 

For making an affidavit in a protest against this 

(109) F. E. Laley. (110) W. A. M. Vnughan. M. J. J. 
Mitchfll, John Long. (Ill) H. B. Burgess. (112) The 
Rev. H. B. Burgfss, Charles Jordan, J..mes Hickey, L. 
0. Wihvorth, D. H. Howe, J. M. Merrian, W. R. 
Bas-gs, W. A M. Vaughn, (llo) John Long. L. 0. 
Wil.vorth. George Holmes. (114) L. 0. Wilworth. 
(115) A W. Burgess. (116) II. B. Burgess, George 
Holmes. (117) H. B. Burgess, John Long, D. H, 
Home. (llS) II. B. Burge.ss, Charles Jordan, H. D. 
Home. (119 H. B. Burgess, Charles Jordan, J. M. 
Merrian, Geo Holmes. (120) H. B Burgess. C. Jor- 
dan, J. M. Merrian. (121) L. O. Wilworth. (122) C. 
Jordau. 



THE KANSAS NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



Iff 



election, !>ottin<; forth tho fnots, Mr. BurRcus wne 
indicted bv llu- (Jrimd Jiirv f»r perjury, whioli in 
dictinciit \vuN tKiiiiiliiioi-otlinii liflccu iiioiitliKn;,'«), 
and is still iiviidiiii;. Mr. Uin^cHS nev.T Iwivinc 
been inforimil will >liiHU<'cu!ior wiw or wliat wan 
tlio tcstimouv u-„'iiiii»t liim [IS.i). A larKi; >"'i 
joritv, lour to one, of the iictuiil settlors ot tliat 
iiHtrict were Free Sliito mcu (1^21), and tlicro 
cniinnt 1»^ tin) least doubt, if none but the 
Qetual settl.rs of tlio distriet had voted at that 
rleelioii, lliat the Free State eandidute would 
have beeu .leeted. The number ot lef,'al voteH 
in the .listriet, aeeordin-j to the census returns, 
was 1111. Tho total number of votes cast was 
37-», and of these but thirty-two are on the re- 
turns, and from the lestinuiny and records, we 
are satisfied that not over forty loj,'al votes were 
cast at that election. A body of anncd Missou- 
rians came into the district previous to the elec- 
tion, and encamped there (12.'3). Before the time 
arrived for opeiiiu},' the polls, the Mi.ss.iurians 
went to another than the town appointed for the 
election ; and <>ne of the Jud^'cs ai)pointed by the 
Governor, and two chosen by the Missourians, 
proceeded to open the polls and carry on tho 
election (l-Jti). The Missourians said none but 
Pro-Slavery men should vote, and threatened to 
ehoot anv Vree-Stute man who should come up 
to vote (127). Mr. Mockbce, one ofthejudp;es 
elected by the Jlissourians, had a store near the 
boundary fi.\ed by the proclamation of the 
Governor, while he cultivated a farm in Missouri, 
where his family lived (128), and where his legal 
residence was then and is now. The Missourians 
also held aside-election for governor of the Terri- 
tory, voting' for Thomas Johnson of Shawnee Mis- 
sion (1-^9). The Free-State men finding the polls 
under the control of the non-residents, refused to, 
and did not, vote (130). They constituted a de- | 
cided majority of the actual settlers (131). A 
petition signcil by a majority of the residents of 
tlie district was sent to thetiovernor (132). The 
whole number of voters in tliis distriet, accord- 
uig to the census returns, was forty-seven; the 
number of votes cast was eight v, of whom but 
fifteen were residents, the number of residents 
whose names are on the eensus-roUs, who did 
not vote, was thirty-two. 

For stnne days prior to the election, compa- 
nies of men were organized in Jackson, Cass, and 
Clay counties. Mo., for the piirimse of coming to 
the 'Territory and voting in this Vth distriet 
(133). The day previous to the election, some 
400 or 51)0 Missourians, armed with guns, pistols, 
and knives, came into the Territory and camped, 
some at Bull Creek, and others at rotawatamie 
Creek (13 1.) Their Ciunps were about sixteen miles 
apart. On the evening before the election. Judge 
Hamilton of the Cass County Court, Mo., came 
from the Potawatamie Creek camp to Bull Creek 
for sixty more IMissourians, as they had not 
enough there to render the election certain, and 
about that number went down there with him (135). 
On the evening before the election. Dr. B. C. 
Westfall was elected to act as one of the Judges 
of Election in the Bull Creek precinct, in place 
of one of the Judges appointed by the Governor, 
who, it was said, would not be there the next day 
(136). Dr. Westfall was at that time a citizen of 
Jackson county, Mo. (137). On the morning of 



(123) n. B. BurRess. (124) H. B. Burgess. 
(12ft) Perry Fuller, Peter Bassuiger. (126) Perry lul- 
ItT. Wm. Moore, J. F. Javens. (127) .1. F. Javens. 
(1-2S) Win. Moore. J. F. Javens. Thoma.s Mocfebee. 
(129) Perry Fuller, William Moore. (loU) Perry Ful 
ler, Wm. Moore, J. F. Javens, T. .Mockboe. (131) Per- 
ry Fuller. Wm. Moore, J. F. Javens. (132) Pony Ful- 
ler, J. 1'. Javens. (133) Dr. B. C Wost'all, Joseph M. 
Goarh«rt. (13!) Dr. B. C. Westfall. JesB.-e W. Wiieon, 
J. M. Genrhart. (135) Dr. B. C. Wi-i-tfall. (13G) Dr. 
B. C. Westfall. (137) Dr. B. Westfall, J. W. WiUoa. 



the election, tho polln for Bull Creek precinct 
were opened, and, without Hwearing the Judges, 
they proeeedetl to receive the voles of all who of- 
fereil to vole. For the sake of aopearanee they 
would get some one to eonie to the wiiulow and 
ofler to vote, and when asked to be Bworn ho 
would prcteiul to grow angry at the Judges and 
\vould go away, and his iwiine would he put down 
as having ofTered to vote, but '• rej<Mted, refus- 
ing to be sworn." This urrungenienl was mado 
previouKly and (icrfeetly understood by tho 
.Indges (138). But few of the renidenls of the 
district were present at tho election, and only 
thirlecn voted (13it). The number of votcB cost 
in the precinct was 3'J3. 

One Missourian vote<l for hiinself and then 
voted for his little son, but 10 or 11 yiars old 
(140). Col. Coffer lleiny Younger and Mr. Ly- 
kins, who were voted for and elected to the Le- 
gislature, were residents of Minsouri at the time 
(Ml). Col. Coffer 8ubsei|nciilly married in the 
Territory. After the polls were closed the re- 
turns were made, and a man, claiming to be a 
magistrate, certified on them that he had sworn 
the Judges of Eleetiim before opening the poll* 
(142). In the I'otawatamie precinct the Missou- 
rians attended the election, and alter threntcning 
Mr. Chesnut, the oidy Judge present ai)pointed 
by the Governor, to induce him to re^^ign, they 
proecedcd to elect two other Judges— one a 
Slissourian ami the other a resident of another 
precinct of that District. The polls were then 
opened, and all the Missnurians were allowed to 
vote without being sworn. 

After the polls were closed, and the returns 
made out for the sifijnature of the Judges, Mr. 
Chcsnut refused to sign them, as he did not con- 
sider them correct returns of legal voters. 

Col. Coffer, a resident of Mis^ouri, but elected 
to the Kansas Legislature from that Distriet at 
that election, endeavored with others to induce 
Mr. Chesuut by threats to sign the returns, 
which he refused to do, and left the House. On 
his way home he was fired at bv some Missou- 
rians, though not injured (143). There were 
three illegal to one legal vote given there that 
day (144). At the Big Layer precinct, the 
Judges appointed by the Governor met at the 
time appointed, and proceeded to open the polls, 
after being duly sworn. After a few votes had 
been received, a party of Missourians came into 
the yard of tho house where the election was 
held, and, unloading a wagon filled with arms, 
stacked their guns in the yard, and came up to 
the window and demanded to be admitted to 
vote. Two of the Judges decided to receive their 
votes, whereupon the third Judge, Mr. J. M. Ar- 
thur, resigned, and another was chosen in his 
place. Col. Young, a citizt n of Missouri, but a 
candidate for, and elected to, the Territorial Le- 
gislative Council, was present and voted in 
the precinct. He claimed that ail Missourians 
who were present on the day of election were 
entitled to vote. But thirty or forty of the citi- 
zens of the precinct were present, and many of 
them did not vote (145). At the Little Sugar 
precinct, the election seemed to have been con- 
ducted fairly, and there n Free-State majority 
was polled (140). From the testimony, the whole 
Distriet appears to have b> en largcly'Free-State, 
and had none but actual settlers voted, the Free- 
State candidates would have been elected by a 
large majority. From a careful examination of 
the" testimony and the records, we find that from 
200 to 225 legal votes were polled out of 885^ 

(13S) Dr. B. C. Westfall. (139) J. W. Wilson. 
(140) Dr. B. C. Westlall. J. W. Wilson. (141) Dr. 
li. C. \Ve.stlall, J. M. Gearhart. (142) Dr B. C. 
Westfall. (143) William Chettnut. (144) William 
ChostLUt. (140) James M. Arthur. (UG) S. W. 
1 Buuton. 



128 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



the total number given in the precincts of the 
Vth District- Of the leg'al votes cast, the Free- 
State caudidfttea received 152. 

YIth District — Four Scott. 

A company of citizens from Missouri, mostly 
from Bates County, came into this District tlio 
day before the election, some caminng and otliers 
putting up at the public-house (117). They num- 
bered from 101) to 200 (148), and came in wagons 
and on horseback, carrying their provisions and 
tents with them, and were generally armed with 
pistols. They declared their purpose to vote, and 
claimed the right to do so. Thoy went to the 
j)cills generally in small bodies, with tickets in 
their hands, and many, if not all, voted. In 
some cases they declared that they had voted, 
and gave their reasons for so doing. Mr. An- 
derson, a Pro-Slavery candidate for the Legisla- 
ture, endeavored to dissuade the non-residents 
from voting, because he did not wish the election 
contested (HQ). This person, however, insisted 
upon voting, and upon his right to vote, and did 
so. No one was challenged or sworn, and all 
voted who desired to. Out of 350 votes cast, not 
over 100 were legal, and but 64 of these named 
in the census taken one month before by Mr. 
Barber, the candidate for Council, voted. Many 
of the Free-State men did not A'ote, but your Com- 
mittee is satisfied tliat, of the legal votes cast, 
the Pro-Slavery candidates received a majority. 
Mr. Anderson, one of the.?e candidates, was 
an unmarried man, who came into the District 
from Missouri a few days before the election, and 
boarded at the public-house until the day after 
the election. He then took with him the poll- 
lists, and did not return to Fort Scott until the 
occasion of a barbecue the week before the elec- 
tion of October 1, 18.55. He voted at that elec- 
tion, and after it left, and has not since been in 
the Disb-ict. S. A. Williams, the other Pro- 
Slavery candidate, at the time of the election had 
a claim in the Territory, but his legal residence 
was not there until after the election. 

YIIth District. 

From two to three hundred men, from the 
State of Missouri, came in wagons or on horse- 
back to the election ground at Switzer's Creek, 
in the YIIth District, and encamped near the 
polls, on the day preceding the election. They 
were armed with pistols and other weapons, and 
declared their purpose to vote, in order to secure 
the election of Pro-Slavery members. They said 
they were disappointed in not finding more Yan- 
kees there, and that they had brouglit more men 
than were necessary to counterbalance their vote. 
A number of them wore badges of blue ribbon, 
with a motto, and the company were under the 
direction of leaders. They declared their inten- 
tion to conduct themselves peacefully, unless 
the residents of the Territory utempted to stop 
them from voting. Two of the Judges of Elec- 
tion appointed by Governor Reeder, refused to 
serve, whereupon two others were appointed in 
their stead by the crowd of Missourians who 
surrounded the polls. The newly-appointed 
Judges refused to take the oath prescribed by 
Governor Reeder, but made one to suit them- 
selves. Andrew Johnson requested each voter to 
swear if he had a claim in the Territory, and 
if he had voted in another District. The Judges 
did not take tlie oath prescribed, but were sworn 
to receive all ]&^a.l votes. The Missourians 
voted without being sworn. They supported 
H. J. Stickler for Council, and M. W. McGee for 
Representative. They left the evening of the 
election. Some of them started on horseback for 

(147) John Ilamilton. (14S) John riamilton, E. B. 
Cook, P B. Arnett. (149) J. C. Audt-rson. 



Lawrence, as they said they could be there be- 
fore night, and all went the way they came. 
The census-list shows 53 legal voters in the Dis- 
trict. 253 votes were cast ; of these 25 were resi- 
dents, 17 of whom were in the District when die 
census was taken (150), Some of the residents 
present at the polls did not vote, declaring it use- 
less. Candidates declined to run on the Free-State 
ticket because they were unwilling to run the 
risk of so unequal a contest — it being known that 
a great many were coming up from Missouri to 
vote (151). "Nearly all the settlers were Free- 
State men. and 23 of the 25 legal votes given 
were cast for the only Free-State candidate run- 
ning. Mobiller McGee, who was declared elected 
Representative, had a claim — a sawmill and a 
house in the Territory — and he was there part ot 
the time. But his legal residence is now, and 
was then, near Westport, in Missouri, where he 
owns and conducts a valuable farm, and where 
his family resides. 

VIIIth District. 

This was attached to the Yllth District for a 
member of the Council and a representative, 
and its vote was controlled by the illegal vote 
cast there. The census shows 39 votes in it — 37 
votes were cast, of whom a majority voted the 
Free -State ticket. 

IXth District. 

Fort Riley and Pawnee are in this District. 
The latter place was selected by the Governor 
as the temporary capital, and he designed there 
to expend the sums appropriated by Congress in 
the construction of suitable houses for the Le- 
gislature. A good deal of building was then 
being done at the fort near by. For these rea- 
sons a number of mechanics, mostly from Penn- 
sylvania came into this district in March, 18.55, 
to seek employment. Some of these voted at the 
election. The construction of the capital was 
first postponed, then abandoned, and finally the 
site of the town was declared by the Secretary 
of War to be within the military reservation of 
Fort Riley. Some of the iuhubitants returned 
to the States, and some went to other parts of 
the Ten-itory. Your Committee find that they 
came as settlers, intenduig to remain as such, 
and were entitled to vote (152). 

Xth District. 

In this district ten persons belonging to the 
Wyandot tribe of Indians voted, liiey were of 
that class who under the law were entitled to 
vote, but their residence was in W3'andot Vil- 
lage, at the mouth of Kansas River, and they 
had no right to vote in this district. They voted 
the Pro-Slavery ticket (153). Eleven men re- 
cently from Pennsylvania voted the Free-State 
Ticket. From the testimony, they had not, at 
the time of the election, so established their resi- 
dence as to have entitled them to vote (154). In 
both these classes of cases the judges examined 
the voters under oath and allowed them to vote, 
and in all respects the election seems to have 
been conducted fairly. The rejection of both 
would not have changed the result. This and 
the Yllltli Election-District formed one repre- 
sentative district, and was the only one to which 
the invasion from Missouri did not extend. 

XIth District. 

The IXth, Xth, and XIth and Xllth Election- 
Districts, being all sparsely settled, were attached 

(150) James A. Stewart, Mr. H. Rose. (151) Wm. 
F. Johnstone. (152) Andrew McConnoll, H. W. Wil- 
son, A. H. Reeder. (163) M. A. Garrett, Joseph Stew- 
art. (154) N. J. Osboru, Isaac Hascall. 



THE KANSAS-NEBR.VSKA. STRUGGLE. 



129 



togctlicr ns a Council-District, and tlio Xltli niiil 
Xlltli us a Kepn lifiitativo District. This Elcc- 
tion-Diatricl iw (jO miles north iVoni I'liwncc, inul 
150 inih-B from Kansas (Jity. it is the northwest 
settlement in the Territory", and contained, when 
the census was taken, but ;itj inhiibitanlH, of 
whom '^4 were voters. Tliero was on the day of 
election no white settlement about JlarysviUe, 
the place of votiii;;, for 40 miles, except that 
Marshall and IJishoi) kept a store and terry at 
the croH.sint^ of the hif? lllue and the California 
road (15o). Your Committeo were unable to 
procure witnesses from this di.strict. I'ersons 
who were present at the election were dulysum- 
nioned by an otlicer, and amon^; them was F. J. 
Marshall, the member of the House from that 
district. On his return the otlicer was arrested 
and detained, and persons bearing; the nanati of 
some of the witnesses sunnnoned were stopped 
near Leconipton, and did not appear before the 
Committee. The returns show that, in delianee 
of the Governor's proclamation, the votinj; was 
vivo voce, instead of by ballot. 3'.28 names ap- 
pear upon the poll-books, as votiui;, and by com- 
parini^ these names with those on the census- 
rolls, we tind that but seven of the latter voted. 
The person voted for as Representative, F. J. 
Marshall, was chief owner of the store at Marys- 
ville, and was there sometimes (IM), but his 
family lived in Weston. John Donaldson, the 
candidate voted for for the Council, then lived 
in Jacksou County, Missouri (157). 

On the day after the election, Mr. Marshall, 
with 25 or 30 'men from Weston, Mo., was on the 
way from Marysville, to the State. ISouie of the 
party told a witness who had formerly resided at 
Weston, that tliey were up at Marysville and 
carried the day for Missouri, and that they had 
voted about 150 votes. Mr. Marshall paid the 
bill at that point for the party. 

There do<s not appear to have been any emi- 
gration into that district in March, 1855, after 
the census was taken, and judging from the best 
test in the power of your Committee, there were 
but seven legal votes east in the district, and 
321 iUegal. 

XIIth District. 

The election in this district was conducted 
fairly. No complaint was made that illegal votes 
were cast. 

XIIIth Dlstuict. 

Previous to the day of election, several hun- 
dreds of Missourians from Platte, Clay, Boone, 
Clinton, and Howard counties, came into the 
district in wagons and on horseback, and camped 
there (158). They were armed with guns, revolv- 
ers, and bowie-knives, and had badges of hemp 
iu their button-holes and elsewhere about their 
persons (159). TJiey claimed to have a right to 
vote, from the fact that tliey were there on the 
ground, and had, or intended to make, claims in 
the Territory, although their families were iu 
Missouri (160). 

The judges appointed by the governor opened 
the polls, and some persons oft'ered to vote, and 
when their votes were rejected on the ground 
that they were not residents of the district, the 
c«rowd threatened to tear the bouse down if the 
judges did not leave (101). The judges then 
withdrew, taking the poll books with them (ItS). 
The crowd then proceeded to select other persons 
to act as judges, and the election went on (163). 

(155) AuRUstus Baker. (156) .\n(5ustus Baker. (157) 
J. E. D'Aris. (la'^) J. B. Ri'ss W. II. Godwin. Dr. 
James Noble, T. A. .Mioard, CUas. Hardli. (lo9) J. B. 
Ross. W. H. Godwin. (160) J. B. lloss, Dr. J. Noble. 
(161) .J B. Rcss, Chailes H.irdh, A. B Snarp. (162) 
J. B Koss, 0. liardli. (163) J. B Uoss. W. 11. Oodwiu, 
Dr. J. Noble. R. Chaudler, T. A. Minard, C. UardU, 
Q. M. Dyer, 0. B. Tebbs. 
9 



Those persons votintf who were Bwoni were ask- 
etl if they coUHidered themselves residents of the 
district, and if lliey said they ilid, they were al- 
loweil to vote (101). Hut lew of the residents 
wore present and voted 1 165), and the t reeiStnte 
men, as agenerid thing, diil not vote (166). After 
the Missourians got through voting, ihey return- 
ed home (167). A fornnil return was made b^ 
the judges of election setting; out the faclB, but it 
was not verified. The number of legal voters in 
this district was 96, of wimm a majority were 
Free-State men. Of thesi- — voted. The total 
number of votes cast was iiUC. 

XIVth Distiuct. 

It was generally rumored in this district, for 
some days before the election, that the Missouri- 
ans were coming over to vote {ICtSj. I'reviousto 
the election, men from Missouri came into the 
district, and electioneered for the Pro-Slavery 
candidates (lO'J). Oen. David K. Atchison and 
a party controlled the nominations iu one of the 
prnnary elections (170). 

BuuR Oak Precinct. 

Several hundred Missourians from Buchanan, 
Platte, and Andrew Coimties, Mo., including a 
great many ofthe prominent citizens of .St. Joseph, 
came into this precinct the day before, and on the 
day of election, in wagons and on horse, and en- 
camped there (171). Arrangements were made for 
them to cross the ferry at St. .Joseph free of ex- 
pense to themselves (172). They were armed 
with bowie-knives and pistols, guns and rittea 
(173). On the morning of the election, the Free- 
State candidates resigned in a body, on account 
of the presence of the large number of armed 
Missourians, at which the crowd cheered and 
hurrahed (174). Gen. B. F. Stringfcllow was 
present, and was prominent in promoting the 
election of the Pro-.Slavery ticket, as was also 
the Hon. Willard P. Hall, and others of the most 
prominent citizens of St. Joseph, JIo. (175). But 
one ofthe judges<|0f election, appointed by the 
governor, served on that day, and the crowd 
chose two others to supply the vacancies (176). 

The Missourians said they came there to vote 
for, and secure the electitm of. Major Wm. P. 
Richardson (177). Major Richardson, elected 
to the Coun<-il, had had a farm in Missouri, 
where his wife and daughter lived with his son- 
in-law, Willard P. Hall, he himself generally 
going home to Missouri every Saturday night. 
The farm was generally known as the Richard- 
son farm. He had a claim in the Territory upon 
which was a saw-mill, and where he generally 
remained during the week (178). 

Some ofthe Missourians gave as their reason 
for voting that they had heard that eastern emi- 
grants were to be at that election (179), though 
no eastern emigrants were there (180). Others 

(164) B. Chandler. (165) J. B. Ross, Dr. J. Noble. 
(166) J. B. Rush, Dr. J. Noble, R Chandler, C. Hardh, 
0. B. Tebbs. (107) J. B. Ross, Dr. J. N.ible. (168) 
B. Hanlin-, John II. Whiteliead, A. Larzelier. (169) 
Benj. Harding, Will.ird P. Hull, Dr. O. A. Cutler. 
(170) Pr. 0. A. Cutl-r. (171) A. A. Jaiiiieson, W. R. 
Richardson, Benj, Harding, J. II. Wliiielieud, J. R. 
Carter, A. har/elier.Willard P. Hall. B. U. Brock, C.W. 
Stewart, A. M. Mitcbell, U S. Creel. G. W. Uillespie. 
(172) L. Dillon, G. VV. Gillespie. (173) A. A. Jamio- 
son, Willard P Hall, C. W. Stew.art. (174) A. A. Ja- 
inieson, W . P. Richardson. Benj. Harding, J. H. White- 
head, A. Larzelier, WilUrd P. Hall. J. P. Blair. (175) 
A.. A. Janiieson, W. P. Richardson, J. U. Whitehead. 
Willard P. Hall (176) A. A. Janiieson, Benjamin 
Harding, J. H. Witehead, A Larzelier, 0. Uulan. 
(177) A. A. Janiieson, W. 1". Hall. (178) .V A. Jamie- 
ton. W. P. Richanlson, W. P. Hall. (179) W. P. RicU- 
ard-on, J. 11. Wliitehe.ad, J. R. Carter, W. P. Hall, A. 
-M. .Mitchell. U S. Creel. (ISO) B. Harding, J. H. 
Whitehead, J. R. Carter, W. P. Hall, 



130 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



said they ■vrere going to vote for the purpose 
of making Kansas a Slave State (181). 

Some claimed that they had a right to vote, 
under the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska 
bill, from the fact that they were present on the 
ground on the day of election (ISiJ). 

The Free-State men generally did not vote 
(183), and those wlio did vole, voted generally 
for John H. Whitehead, Pro-Slavery, for Coun- 
cil, against xMajor Wm. P. Richardson, and did 
not vote at all for members of the Lower House 
(184). 

The parties were pretty nearly equally divided 
in the district, .some being of opinion that the 
Free-State party had a small majority (185), and 
others that the Pro-Slavery party hud a small 
majority (186). After the election was over, 
and the polls were closed, the Missouriaus re- 
turned home. During the day they had provi- 
sions and liquor served out, free of expense to 
all (187). 

Doniphan Precinct. 

The evening before the election soine 200 or 
more Missounana from Platte, Buchanan, Sa- 
line, and Clay counties, Missouri, came into this 
precinct, with tents, music, wagons, and provi- 
sions, and armed with guns, rilies, pistols, and 
bowie-knives, and encamped about two miles 
from the place of voting (188). They said they 
came to vote, to make Kansas a Slave State, 
and intended to return to Missouri after they 
had voted (189). 

On the niornhig of the election the Judges ap- 
pointed by the Governor would not serve, and 
others were appointed by the crowd (190). The 
Missouriaus were allowed to vote without being 
sworn (191)— some of them voting as many as 
eight or nine times ; changing their hats and 
coats and giving in different names each time 
(192). After they had voted they returned to 
Missouri (193). The Free-State men generally 
did not vote (194), though constituting a majori- 
ty in the precinct (195). Upo^ counting the bal- 
lots in the box and the names ou the poll-lists, it 
was found that there were too many ballots (196), 
aud one of the judges of election took out bal- 
lots enough to make the two numbers correspond 
(197;. 

Wolf River Precinct. 

But few Missourians were present in this pre- 
cinct, though some of them threatened one of the 
judges, because he refused to receive their votes, 
and when he resigned another was chosen in 
his place, who consented to receive their votes 
(198). 

Protests were drawn up against the elections 
in the various precincts in the XlVth District, 
but ou account of threats that greater numbers 
of Missourians would be at a new electii>n should 
it be called, and of personal violence to those 
who should take part in the protest, it was not 
presented to the Governor (199). Major Rich- 

(181) W. P. Hall, H. S. Creel. (182) B. H, Brock, C 
W. Stewart, H. S. Creel. (183) A. A. Jamieson, W. P. 
KichardHon, J. H. Whitehead, A. Laizelier, C. W. 
Stewart, H. S. Creel. (184) W. P. Richard.son, C. B. 
Whitehead. (185) A. A. Jamieson, B. Harding, A. 
Laizeher, C. W. Stewart. (186) S. P. Richardson, J. 
H. Whitehead, \V. 1'. Hall, Thos. W. Watterson, J P. 
Blair. (187) W. V. Richardson, G. W. Gillespie. (188) 
Richard Tuck, Eli Hamilton, John Landi.s, Luther 
Dickerson, J. W. Heattie, David Fizer. (189) R. Tuck, 
L. Dickerson, J. W. Beattie. (190) R. Tuck, E. Hamil- 
ton, J. Liindis. (191) R. Tuck, E. Hamilton, David 
Fizer. (192) R. Tuck. (19o) R. Tuck, E. Hamil- 
ton, J, Landis, L. 1 ickersDn. (194) John Landis. 
(19.''))R. luck. John Landis. 090) E Hamilton, J. F. 
Foreman. (197 E Hamilton. (198) Dr. G. A. Cutler. 
(199) Dr. G. A. Cutler, John Landis, A. A. Jamieson. 



ardson, the Pro-Slavery candidate for Council, 
threatened Dr. Cutler, the Free-State candidate, 
that if he contested the election he and his otfice 
should be put in the Missouri River (200). 

The number of votes in the district by the cen- 
sus was 334 — of these 124 voted. The testimony 
shows that quite a number of persons whose 
legal residence was in the populous county of 
Buchanan, Mo., on the opposite side of the river, 
had claims in the Territory. Some ranged cattle, 
iuid others nuu-ked out their claim and built a 
cabin, and sold this incipient title where they 
could. They were not residents of the Territory 
in any just or legal sense. A number of settlers 
moved into the district in the month of March. 
Your Committee are satisfied, after a careful 
analysis of the records and testimony, that the 
number of legal votes cast did not exceed 200^ 
out of 727. 

XVth District, 

The election in this district was held in the 
house of a Mr. Hayes. On the day of election a 
crowd of from 400 to 500 men (201) collected 
around the polls, of Mhich the great body were 
citizens of Missouri. One of the Judges of Elec- 
tion, in his testimony (202), states that the stran- 
gers commenced crowding around the polls, and 
that then the residents lett. Threats were made 
before and during the election day that there 
should be no Free-State candidates, although 
there were nearly or quite as many Free-State 
as Pro-Slavery men resident in the district. 
Most of the crowd were drinking and carousing, 
cursing the Abolitionists and threatening the 
only Free-State Judge of Election. A majority 
of those who voted wore hemp in their button- 
holes (203) and their pass-word was, " all right on 
the hemp." Many of the Missourians were 
known and are named by the witnesses. Several 
speeches were made by them at the polls, and 
among those who spoke were Major Oliver, one 
of your Committee, Col. Burns, aud Lalau Wil- 
liams of Platte County. Major Ohver urged up- 
on all present to use no harsh words, and ex- 
pressed the hope that nothing would be said or 
done to harm the feelings of the most sensitive ou 
the other side. He gave some grounds, based on 
the Missouri Compromise, in regard to the right 
of voting, and was understood to excuse the Mis- 
sourians for voting. Your Committee are satis- 
tied tliat he did not vote. Col. Burns recom- 
mended all to vote, and he hoped none would go 
home without voting. Some of the Pro-Slavery 
residents were much dissatisfied at the interfer- 
ence with their rights by the Missourians, and for 
that reason— because reflection convinced them 
that it would be better to have Kansas a Free- 
State — they " fell over the fence" (204). The 
judges requested the voters to take an oath that 
they were actual residents. They objected at 
first, some saying they had a claim, or " I am 
here." But the Free-State Judge iusisted upon 
the oath, and his associates, who at first were 
disposed to waive it, coincided with him, and the 
voters all took it after some grumbling. (Due 
said he cut him some poles and laid them in the 
shape of a square, and that made him a claim; 
aud another said that he had cut him a few sticks 
of wood, and that made him a claim. The Free- 
State men did not vote, although they believed 
their numbers to be equal to the Pro-Slavery set- 
tlers, and some claimed that they had the majori- 
ty. They were deterred by threats throughout 
by the Missourians, before and on the day of 
election, from putting up candidates, and no can- 
didates were run, for this reason^ — that there was 

(200) Dr. G. A. Cutler. (201) J. B. Crane. (202) E. 
R. Zimnu-rman. (203) E. R. Zimmerman, Joseph 
Potter. (204) E. 11. Zimmerman. 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



131 



R credited rumor previously that the MisHoiirianB 
would control tlio election. Tlio Free State 
Ju(Il;o whs tlirunli-ued witli c.Tpulsion from the 
polls, iukI II youn;j man lliru.st ii pinto! into the 
window throuj^li wliicli tiie votes were re<'eivi'il. 
The wliole immluT of votc.i ciixt was 417 ; of lli<^ 
namw on the poll-book but <U arc in the eensim- 
rolls, and the testimony shows that u small por- 
tion, estimated by one witness at one ipiartor of 
the K'tfal voters, voted. Your Committee esti- 
mate the number of Icyal voters at Hit. One of 
tlie jud;,'es referreil to, certified (o the (Governor 
tiiat the election was fairly eondurted. It was 
not enntested because no one would take tlu^ re- 
eponsibility of doiiij^ it, as it was not (•(insidcrcd 
safe, and that if another election wa.s had, the 
rosideiits Would fare uo better. 

XVIth District. 

For some time previous to the election, meet- 
ings Welti h(dd and arraiij^tnunts made in 3Iis- 
souri to get up eomjianicB to come iiVer to the 
Teiritory and vote ('JO')), and the day before 
and on the day of election, large bodies of Mis- 
sourians from I'lattc, Clay, Ray, Charlton, Car- 
rol, Clinton, and .Saline Counties, Mo., came 
into this district and camped there (2l)C). They 
Weri.' armed with pistols and howie-knives, and 
some with guns and rides ("-207), and had badges 
of hemp in their buttonholes and elsewhere 
obout their persons (208). 

On the morning of the election there were 
from 1,000 to 1,400 persons present on the ground 
(209). Previous to the election, Missourians 
endeavored to persuade the two Free-State 
judges to resigu by making threats of personal 
violence to them (-10), one of whom resigm-d 
on the morning of election, and the crowd cliose 
another to till his pluet' (~11). IJut one of the 
judges, the Free-State Judge, would take the 
oath prescribed by the Governor, the other two 
deeiiling that they had no right to swear any 
one who oft'ered to vote, but that all on the 
ground were eutiiled to vote (-1~). The only 
votes refused were some Delaware Indians, 
some 30 Wyandot Indians being allowed to 
vote (213). 

One of the Free-State candidates withdrew in 
consequence of the presence of the Missourians, 
amid cheering and acclamations by the Mis- 
sourians (214). During the dav, the steamboat 
New Lucy came down from ^V■estern Missouri, 
with a large number of Missourians on board, 
who voted and then returueil on the boat (215). 

The Missourians gave as a reason for their 
coming over to vote, thiit the North had tried to 
forci' I'lnigration into the Teiritory, and tluy 
wanted to counteract that movement (21()j. 
Some of the candidates and many of the Mis- 
sourians took the ground that, under the Kan- 
sas-Nebraska act, all who were on the ground 
on the day of election were entitled to vote 
(217), and others, that laying out a town, stak- 
ing a lot, or driving down stakes, even on an- 
other man's claim, gave them a right to vote. 

(20.1) H. Miles Moore, A. McAuley, L. Kerr. (206) 
David Brown, T. A. Hart, O. F. Waireti. K. 11. Rees. A. 
Russell, P. R. Orr. L. J. KasUn, A. Fi.shiT. .M. b-rance, 
H. M. Mooie (JOT) V. Br..\vii, K. A. Hart. «. F. War- 
ren, A. Fisher. H. M. Moore. W. G. MattUia-. (208) 
F. A. Hart, L. J. Ea>;tin, M. Franco, W. II. Adams, H. 
M. .Muore. (209) F. A. Hart, T. A Miriard. ii. V. 
Warren. R. R. Ree.s. A. J. Patlie, W. (J. .Matthias. 
(210) 1). lln.wn, M. France. ( Jll> U. Brown. F. A. 
Hart. M. France. (212) .M. France. (21:3) M. France. 
(214) F. A. Hart. L. J. Karin. W. H. Adams. (215) D. 
Brown, F. A. Hart, T. A. .Minard, (f F Warren, K. R. , 
Kees. S. J. BusMn. A. T. Kvle. 1). J. Johnson. M. , 
France. A. T. I'attie. H. ,M. Moore. (210) H. R. Rees, 
L. J. Easfin. W H. Adams. H. .M Moore. (217) U. 
Brown, T. A. Minard, G. F. Warren, R. R. Reo.^, H. 
M. Moore. I 



And one of the moniljerB (218J of the Council, R, 
K. Kees, declared in his testimony that he who 
should [lut adill'erent construction ujMdi the law 
must be either a knave or a fool. 

The Free .State men generally did not vote at 
that ileetion (2I!») ; and no newlvarrived East- 
ern emigrants were there (220), The Free-State 
Judge of Election refused to sign the returns un- 
til thi^ words "by lawful resident voters" were 
stricken out, whicli was done, and the returnu 
made in that way (221). The election was cou- 
testi'd, and a new election ordered by Gov. 
Kceder tor the 22d of May. 

The te.stiniony is divided as to the relotivc 
strength of parties in this district. The whole 
number of voters in the district, according to 
the census returns, was 385 ; and, according to 
a very carefully-prepared list of voters, pre- 
iwireil for the Pro Slavery candidates and other 
I'ro Slavery men, a few days previous to the 
election, tliere Were 305 Voters in the district, 
iijehuling those who had claims but did not live 
on I hem (222). The whole number of votes east 
was !•()!. Of these named iu the census lOG 
voted. Your Ciunmittec, upon careful examina- 
tion, arc satisfied that thcrt; were not over 150 
legal votes cast, leaving 814 illegal votes. 

XVIIth District. 
The election in this district seems to have 
been fairly conducted, and not contested at all. 
In this district the Pro-Slavery party had the 
majority. 

XVIIIth Dlstrict. 

Previous to the election. Gen. David R. Atchi- 
son of Platte City, Mo., got up a company of 
Missourians, and passing through Weston, Mo., 
(223) went over into tlie Territory. He re- 
mained all night atthe house of , and then 

exhibited his arms, of which he had an .-ibund- 
anee. lie proceeded to the Nemohaer (XVIllth) 
District (224). On his way, he and his i)artv at- 
tended a Nominating Convention iii tin- XlVth 
District, and proposed and caused to be nomin- 
ated a sit of candidates in opposition to the 
wishes of the Pro-Slavery residents of tin; dis- 
trict (225). At that Convention he said that 
there were 1,100 men coming over from Platte 
County, and if that wasn't enough they could 
Send 5,0110 more — that they came to vote, and 
Would vote or kill every G — d d — d Abolitionist 
in the Territory (22()). 

On the day of election, the Missourians under 
Atchison, who were encamped there, came up 
to the polls in the XVIIIth District, taking the 
oath tiiat they were residents of the distiict. 
The Missourians were all armed with pistols tu' 
bowie-knives, and said there were GO in their 
com))any (227). But 17 volis given on that day 
were given by residents of tlio district (228). 
The whole number of votes was G2. 

11. L. Kirk, (Uie of the candidates, came into 
the district from Jlissouri about a week In fore 
the election, and boarded there (229). He left 
after the election, and was not at the time a legal 
n-sident of the district iu which he was elected. 
No protest was sent to the tjovernor on account 
of threiits made against any who should dare to 
contest the eleetiim (230). The f(dlowing tables 
embody the result of tlie examination of your 
Committee in regard to this election. In some 
of the districts it was impossible to ascertain 

(218) D. Brown, T. A. Hart. (219) I). Brown. E. A. 
Minard, G. F Warren, F. A. Hart M. 1 ranee. 11. M. 
.Moore. (221)) L. J. Eastin. M. France, W. II Ailams. 
(221) L. J. Easiin. .M France W. II. Adani.s. (222) L. 
J. Eastin, A. .McAuloy. (223) H Niles .Moore. (224) 
Dr »;. A. (utier, Amer Gr, om. (J.'o) Dr. G. A. 
( lUlcr. (220) Di. (i. A. Cutler. (227) 1>. H. Baker. 
J.hn Belew. (228) D. H. Bukei, Joliu Beicw. (229) 
Jubu Bolew. (2;i0) Dr, U. A. Cutler. 



132 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



the precise number of the legal votes cast, and 
especially iu the XlVth, XVth and XVlth Dis- 
tricts. In such cases the number of legal and 



illegal votes cast is stated, after a careful re-ex- 
amination of all the testimony and records con- 
cerning the election : 



"S e 



S3 



No. t'Duncilmen elected 
by Illegal Votes 



No. of Illegal "Votes in 
Council District 



O CO 
CO -* 

<a csi 



No. of Legal VotL'a in 
Council District 






to 


(N S 








lis 




s 




X5 O O 
S3* 




(N 

to 




No. of Illegal Votes in 
Election District 


S 


to 




^il 


5§ 


I-l 


05 


i 


M 


3 

CO 


(N O 


rHCO 


O 


2 

s 




No. of Legal Votes in 
Election Discrict 


15 


l-t 


Oi 


W CO (M CO 


CO 


•a 


CO 


lO o 
oo 

•— i-H 


OOO CO t--J-H 
— ^ C-» CO ft 


M CO 


t-o o 

rl-T 00 


tM 


s 




Total Votes cast in 
Council District . 








CO O O) 








CO CO 




1 




OO NC^ 

t- o — 
•*co -* 




1 


ta 
to 


Total Votes cast in 
Election District — 


o 


O 




o-*-*i- 

cot- CO CO 


5? 

CO 


i 


o 


lO (T? O O; to 


COCOrH 




(MIN 

eo5< 


IN 


1 




Scattering 


rt 






O CO 








^ 


M 






^ 






CO 


Total Votes in Council 
District for them 
















CO 




1 




ro 




to 
to 


to 


No. of A'otes for them 
in Election District 


TtlO<NC^«5«IM-WC0t-0»0>i0C0t-C0e»O 


O IM r-l CO en t- 
0-*<M I-l 




00 CO to O 05 
to tOu3 





■o !tc-o_° 
rt o 



:ta t"^ 



hjOal-St/jl-sC/il-S^ 



fe fc S S & fe g 

D c c c c a p 
o o c o o o 

O r_) O O U O ^ 

ft< Si ft. fN fe fsj ^ 

^ I w-; c^ If* tj tf' cS ^ 5 t.^ ,f' ^ •.; M* M 9 

^ ' — >-; «a •-» « H^ <= 1-5 iit;,*«<;<.rt 1-5 






3 ^^"^ ^ 

? ■- = -3 



Total Voters in Council 
Districts for them 



O CO 
CO -ti 

to CO 



No. of Voters for them 
in Election District 



OCOOOOO(MOOOOOrHt-t— tOOSOl-<*-<*-^-1IC0r0lr'CHaoC^Til'^C0— •Tj'rHCOCOtOCO 

ooQot-t-'^Tiift^rH-.Ht-i-ciair-t-coco-i'C^C^ £3^ t--*toco<-icocooiOi 



CO CO ci CO ?:i r-1 r-i 



(M Tf « C^ 00 00 



I □ o □ 

I « « 






S g •-•- --^ '■? = ■£ ^'■E^'i.-e = " c a 2 gfefc^S^ 
c 5 t. t. ■- o ■^^ '^o^--*^i3oocSo- 



^ a » a 



5 .6 ^*"^'-5'^»«5'?*^'?i<'>*^'>g.i5.a.543.i:.5.a.caS^^*-5^'"5 
HWfHH<!KKH<Q-<Q<JQ-<P^»-5i-5>-5i-si-5i-si-5i-si-sPCPiF3P5i.:! 



No. of Oouncilmen., 



r-l iHrHCI 



No. of Voters by Census 
in Council Districts 



(N CO 

— o> 

iNf« 



CO rH 
»t5 O 
tNCJ 



Voters in Election Dists 



O IM — I CO OJ tJ 

iCl f* O »C CO -* 



) to CO -^00 a oo»oooco 

>COtO IMt- 1-H NhS"' 



3 J3 

Eh n 



_ .2 " -■ 



W ^ -x^. 5; S ::2 '^ .- 

.SP o S i: ^- o § 3 



No. of Election District 



NCO«-00 O 



CO Ol O rH IN M* 00 -* *« CO to 



No. of Council District. "^ 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



133 



ABSTRACT OP ELECTION OP MARCH 30, 1805, BY REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS. 



No. RepreHenl'eii 
Elected by l!lo- 
gal Votes 



No. Illegal Votes 
in Represent'ttve 
District 



11 Ft s 



No. Li-gal VutoH 
in Rt-pi'esent'tive 
District 



^ s ss 



g s s s 



No. Illegal Votes 
in Election Dint.. 



8<oc 
III 



8 « S 



No. Legal Votes SS 
in Election Dist.. 



3SS§J' 



P; 3 S S 



Total Votes ca>>t 
in Representative 
District 






251 
eoc< 



Total Votes cast 
in Election Dist.. 



3? z;2 

«9 r*tT 



rH O «0 lA 03 CO OO — ' 



N^ S 00 



O r* to C4 C4 CO fH • 



Scattering. 



-H <0 iH 



Total Votfs for 
them in Repro 
sentative District 
No. of Votes for 
them in Election 
District .- 



r1g^Ar1r-l « IN CO il <0 O tO <0 i-li-i i-l ri <0 to (5 <0 O •<* W i-( il M c< i-l S rH 






£ £ E cfc 3 a c.£ 3 



o c J- o o 



<i^-;wo:^f4d<;a<•4£:^?<M&4•^ 



c ^ 

C a. o s 

3 •- O O 

■ a =»; 



= « 'Sao 
sags-" 
S ^^ = 
r-- o S ■ 

te =2 ■ 



"959 fe- ^■S 



a o c o 
s 3 3 



3-PP 



o c * o .2 

ci C! ^ 3 = 

>J ■ ■_.: ° 



.Z •a e — . ■« 



«-■ = 



o^ s o 



.5 » 

C-r ^ 

M 3 L^ 

:= gn 

O CS • 



Total Votes lor 
them in Repre- 
sentative District 



t- CO SB 



00 « t~ 



<N >ra ^ 



No. of Votes for 
them in Election 
District 



• cooi-if-iarroceoo 
t^ t* r. CO CO CO c* 



c>i«nfOr-iAiAt>ooocc30aOTi«-^.<j<TjtcO'M»ou5QOr-<cia 

II— i.-t'.t-t-l— ClCJCiC-' - - — — 

coeocor3cocoi-i»-tt-(f 



f-tr?'"j7rt-«*i~-ciCJC:C5t-t— t^t..C0P3c0C0f 





M Cl m r- KJ 








-W TJi OO 00 00 




No. Represent'vs 



No. Voters by cen- 
sus in Represent- 
ative District 



No.Voter.s by ceu 
su.s in Election 
District 



fl r1C» 



c» « CO 



<M M 09 



-t J M 



5 ^ a 



~ 1< . o o 

n E-ii-3 oek 



No. of Elec. Dist. I "S*^ ** "'" 
No. of Rep. Dist, I -^ e^ eo .* us 






o> o I— N eo-i" 



«■««<* 



134 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



ABSTRACT OF CENSUS, AND RETURNS OF ELECTION OF MARCH 30, 1855, BY 
ELECTION DISTRICTS. 



Place of Voting. 



Lawrence . ... 

Bloomington 

Stinson's, or Tecumseh .. 

Dr. Chapman's 

Bull Creek 

Potawatamie 

Big Sugar Creek 

Little Sugar Creek 

fort Scott 

Isaac B. Titus 

Council Grove 

Pawnee 

Big Blue 

Rock Creek.. 

Marysville 

St. Mary's 

Silver Lake 

Hickory Point 

Doniphan .. 

Wolf Creek 

Burr-Oak, Hodge's 

Hayes 

Leavenworth . 

Gum Springs 

Moonestown 



Total 5427 



781 

318 

366 

78 

377 

199 

74 

34 

315 

211 

17 

23 

27 

2 

328 

4 

12 

233 

313 

57 

256 

412 

899 

43 

48 



1034 
311 

372 

80 

386 

264 

98 

104 

350 

234 

37 

75 

69 

23 

328 

11 

33 

239 

346 

78 

306 

417 

964 

59 

62 



232 
3> 
32 
15 
13 
75 
32 
104 
100 
25 
37 
75 
48 
23 
7 
11 
33 
12 



80 

150 

59 

17 



802 
316 
338 

65 
380 
191 

59 



250 
209 



21 
321 

230 

530 

337 
814 

45 

4968 



962 
619 
252 
177 



1407 



810 

118 

83 



144 

284 

1167 

873 

1183 

150 

99 



369 
199 
101 
47 



253 
58 
39 
36 
63 



208 

385 

50 

28 



3501 2892 



Your Committee report the following facts 
not shown by the tables : 

Of the tweuty-nine hundred and five voters 
named in the census -rolls, eight hundred and 
thirty-one are found ou the poll-books. Some of 
the settlers were prevented from attending the 
election by the distance of their homes from the 
polls ; but the great majority were deterred by the 
open avowal that large bodies of armed Missou- 
rians would be at the polls to vote, and by the 
fact that they did so appear and control the elec- 
tion. The same causes deterred the Free-State 
settlers from running candidates in several dis- 
tricts, and in others induced the candidates to 
withdraw. 

The poll-books of the lid and Vlllth districts 
were lost ; but the proof is quite clear that, in the 
lid district, there were thirty, and in the Vlllth 
district thirty-eight legal votes, making a total 
of eight hundred and ninety-eight legal voters of 
the Territory, whose names are on the census- 
returns, and yet the proof, in the state in which 
we are obliged to present it, after excluding ille- 
gal votes, leaves the total vote of 1,310, showing 
a discrepancy of 412. The discrepancy is ac- 
counted for in two ways : First, the coming in 
of settlers before the March election, and after 
the census was taken, or settlers who were omit- 
ted in the census; or secondly, the disturbed 
state of the Territory while we were investigat- 
ing the elections in some of the districts, thereby 
preventing us from getting testimony in relation 
to the names of legal voters at the time of elec- 
tion. 

If the election had been confined to the actual 
settlers unilctcireil by the presence of non-resi- 
dents, or thr knowledge that they would be 
present in nuiubors sufliciont to out-vote them, 
the testimony indicates that the council would 
have been composed of seven in favor of making 
Kansas a Free State, elected from the 1st, Ha, 



Hid, IVth, and Vlth, council-districts. The result 
in the Vlllth, and Xth, electing three members, 
would have been doubtful, and the Vth, Vllth, 
and IXth would have elected three Pro-Slavery 
members. 

Under like circumstances the House of Rep- 
resentatives would have been composed of four- 
teen members in favor of making Kansas a Free 
State, elected from the lid. Hid, IVth, Vth, 
Vllth, Vlllth, IXth, and Xth representative- 
districts. 

The result in the Xllth and XlVth representa- 
tive-districts, electing five members, would have 
been doubtful, and' the 1st, Vlth, Xlth, and 
XVth districts would have elected seven Pro- 
Slavery members. 

By the election, as conducted, the Pro- 
Slavery candidates in every district but the 
Vlllth representative-district, received amajority 
of the votes ; and several of them, in both the 
Council and the House, did not " reside in" 
and were not "inhabitants of" the district for 
which they were elected, as required by the or- 
ganic law. By that act it was declared to be 
the true intent and meaning of this act to leave 
the people thereof perfectly free to form and 
regulate their domestic institutions in their 
own way, subject to the Constitution of the 
United States. 

So careful was Congress of the right of popular 
sovereignty, that to secure it to the people, 
without a single petition from any portion of the 
country, they removed the restriction against 
Slavery imposed by the Missouri Compromise. 
And yet this right, so carefully secured, wa3 
thus by force and fraud overthrown by a portion 
of the people of an adjoining State. 

The striking difference between this Repub- 
lic and other Republics on this Continent, is not 
in the provisions of Constitutions and laws, 
but that here changes in the administration of 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



186 



thoBO lawB hnvo boon mado pcncefully iiiul quiitly 
throu};li tlic bnllotbcix. TIiih iiiviiBion in tbo tirnt 
and only one in lin- liirtlory of our (iovfinniuiit, 
by wliii-li an or(,'iini7.ril Inico from one Sliiti- Iuim 
eli-cti'd II Lc;,'isliilurc' for unoihcr Siiilu or Ti iri 
tory, and as nm-h it tiliould liavc bci ii nsistt-d 
lay 'the whob- cxc-cutivo i^wir of tli<- Nutionul 
Govi'nnni-nt. 

Your I'omniittco are of the opinion that the 
ConMlitiition and hiW8 of thu United StatcM liiive 
invested Ilie President and Governor of the Ter- 
ritory witli aniiil<^ power for tliis inirpoHc. They 
could oidy aet after roeeivin^c authentic infonna- 
tion of tlie fatis, but wiicu reeeivetl, whether be- 
fore or after the eertilieates of eieetion wer<' 
{jranli-ii, this power sliould have been exereisxil 
to its fullest extent. It is not to be tolerated 
that a b'gislativu body thus selected slnudd as- 
8«nio or exercise any lej,'isiativo functions ; and 
their enactments should be re^'arded as null and 
void; nor tliould the iiueslion of its Icj^al <-xist- 
enee as a Icj^islative body be determined by 
itself, as that would be allowinj^ the I'riminal to 
judge of his own crime. In seetidii twenty two 
of the orf,'anic aet it is provided, that " the per- 
sons havin;^ the liijj;liest number of lej^ul votes 
ill encli of said Council-districts for mendjors 
of the Council, shall bo d(!elared by the Gov- 
ernor to be duly elected to the Council, and 
the persons haviuf; the his^hest number of le- 
gal votes fur the House of liepresentatives, 
fihnll be declared by the CJovernur duly electiil 
monbers of said House." The proclamation 
of the Governor required a verified notice of a 
contest when one was made, to bo filed with 
him within four days after the ch-ction. Within 
that time ho did not obtain information as to 
force or fraud in any ixcept the following dis- 
tricts, and in these there were material defects 
in the returns of eieetion. "Without deciding 
upon his power to set aside elections for force 
and fraud, they were set aside for the following 
reasons : 

In tlie let district, because the words " by 
lawful resident voters," were stricken from the 
return. 

In the Hd district, because the oath was ad- 
ministered by G. W. Taylor, who was not au- 
thorized to administer an oath. 

In the llld district, because material erasures 
from the printed form of the oath were pur- 
posely made. 

In the IVth district for the same reason. 

In the Vllth district, because the Judges 
■Were not sworn at all. 

In the Xlth district, because the return.'^ show 
the election to have been held viva voce instead 
of by ballot. 

In the XV'Ith district, because the words " by 
lawful residence' were stricken from the re- 
turns. 

ABSTRACT OF THE RETURNS OF ELECTION 
OF MAY 2-2, 1855. 



16 



Places of Yotino. 



Lawrence .... 

Diiuglas 

SriuKon's 

" no" 

Council Grove 
Leavenworth-. 

Total 



288 
127 
148 
06 
33 
560 I 14U 

660 802 



3C6 
127 
149 
79 
33 
715 

1409 



Altliough tlio fraud and force in otlicr districta 
were eiiually great as in these, yet us the Gov- 
ernor hail no information in regard to them, he 
issued certiticutes according to the returns. 

Your Committee here felt it to be their duly 
not oidy to in<niire into and collect evidence iu 
regard to forci' and fraud attenipti-d and [irac- 
ticed at the elections in the Territory, but also 
into the I'acts and pretexts by whi<h this force 
and fraud has been excused and juslilicd ; and 
for this purpose, your Coinniittou have allowed 
the doclaratioiiH of iion-resident voters to be 
given as evidiner^ in their own bihalf, also the 
declarations of all who <'ame up the iMissouri 
Kiver as emigrants in March, IH.j.j, whcllier they 
voted or not, and whetlur they came into tho 
Territor}' at all or not ; and also the rumors 
wliich were circulated among tin- people of Mis- 
souri previous to the eieetion. The great body 
of lh<? testimony taken at the instance of the sit- 
ting Delegate is of this character. 

When the declarations of i)arties passing uji tho 
river were oticred in evidence, your Coinmitleo 
received them upon the distinct statement that 
they would be excluded unless the persons mak- 
ing the declarations were by other proof shown 
to liave been connected with the elections. This 
proof was not made, and therefore much of this 
(dass of testimony is incompetent by the rules of 
law, but is allowed to remain as tending to show 
the (^ause of the action of the citizens of Missouru 

Tho alleged causes of the invasion of March, 
185.3, are included in the following charges : 

I. That the New England Aid Society of Bos- 
ton was then importing into the Territory largo 
numbers of men merely lor the purpose of control- 
ling the elections. That they came without wo- 
men, chiklren, or baggage, went into the Terri- 
tory, voted, and returned again. 

II. That men wiie hired in the Eastern or 
Norihirn States, or induced to go into the Terri- 
tory solely to vote, and not to settle, and by so 
doing to make it a Free State. 

III. That the Governor of the Territory pur- 
posely postponed the day of election to allow 
this emigration to arrive, and notified the Emi- 
grant Aid Society, and persons in the Eastern 
States, of the day of election, before ho gave 
notice to the people of Missouri and the Ter- 
ritory. 

That these charges were industriously circu- 
lated ; that grossly exaggerated statements were 
made in regard to them; that the newspaper 
press and leading men in public meetings in 
western Missouri, aided iu one case by a Chap- 
lain of the United States Army, gave currency 
and credit to them, and thus excited the people, 
and induced many well meaning citizens of Mis- 
souri to march into the Territory to meet and repel 
the alleged Eastern paupers and Abolitionists, is 
fully proven by many witnesses. 

But these charges are not sustained by tho 
proof. 

Ill April, 1854, the General Assembly of Mas- 
sachusetts passed an act entitled " An aet to in- 
corporate tho Massachusetts Emigrant Aid So- 
ciety." The object of the Society as declared in 
the first section of this act, was " for the purpose 
of assisting emigrants to settle iu the West." 
The moneyed capital of the corporation was not 
to exceed five niillions of dcdlars ; but no more 
than four pi^" cent, could be assessed during the 
year 18J4, and no more than ten per cent, in any 
ime year thereafter. >.'o organization was per- 
fected, or proceedings had, under this law. 

Gu tho 2i{\i day of July, 1854, certain persons 
in Boston, Massachusetts, concluded articles of 
agreement and association for an Emigrant Aid 
Society. Thopurjiose of this association was de- 
clared to bo " assisting emigrants to settle in tlio 
West." Under these articles of ossocialiou, each 



136 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



stockholder was individually liable. To avoid 
this difficulty, an application was made to the 
General Assembly of Massachusetts for an act of 
incorporation, which was granted. On the 2l8t 
day of February, 1855, an act was passed to in- 
corporate the New England Emigrant Aid Com- 
pany. The purposes of this act were declared 
to be " directing emigration westward, and aid- 
ing and providing accommodation for the emi- 
grants after arrivmg at their place of destina- 
tion." The capital stock of the corporation was 
not to exceed one milUon of dollars. Under this 
charter a company was organized. 

Your Committee have examined some 
of its officers and a portion of its circulars 
and records to ascertain what has been 
done by it. The public attention, at that time, 
was directed to the Ten-itory of Kansas, and 
emigration naturally tended in that direction. 
To ascertain its character and resources, this 
Company sent its agent into it, and the informa- 
tion thus obtained was published. The Com- 
pany made arrangements with various lines of 
transportation to reduce the expense of emigra- 
tion into the Territory, and procm-ed tickets at 
the reduced rates. Apphcations were made to 
the Company by persons desiring to emigrate, 
and when they were numerous enough to form a 
party of convenient size, tickets were sold to 
tliem at the reduced rates. An agent acquainted 
with the route was selected to accompany them. 
Their baggage was checked, and all trouble and 
danger of loss to the emigrant in this way avoid- 
ed. 

Under these ai-ran^ements, companies went 
into the Territory in the Fall of 1854, under the 
articles of association referred to. The compa- 
ny did not pay any portion of the fare, or fui'nish 
any personal or real property to the emigrant. 
The company during 1855 sent into the Territory 
from eight to ten saw-mills, purchased one hotel 
in Kansas City, which they subsequently sold, 
built one hotel at Lawrence, and owned one other 
building in that place. In some cases, to induce 
them to make improvements, town lots were 
given to them by town associations in this Ter- 
ritory. They held no property of any other kind 
or description. They imposed no condition upon 
their emigrants and did not inquire into their po- 
litical, religious, or social opinions. The total 
amount expended by them, including the salaries 
of their agents and officers, and the expenses in- 
cident to all organizations, was less than $100,- 
000. 

Their purposes, as far as your Committee can 
ascertain, were lawful, and contributed to sup- 
ply those wants most experienced in the settle- 
ment of a new country. 

The only persons or company who emigrated 
into the Territory under the auspices of the Emi- 
grant Aid Society in 1855, prior to the election 
m March, was a party of 159 persons who came 
under the charge of Charles Robinson (231J. 

In this party there were 67 women and chil- 
dren (232). They came as actual settlers, intend- 
ing to make their homes in the Territory, and 
for no other purpose (233). They had about their 
persons but little baggage; usually sufficient 
clothing in a carpet-sack tor a short time. Their 
personal effects, such as clothing, furniture, etc., 
was put into trunks and boxes ; and for conve- 
nience in selecting and cheapness in transport- 
ing, was marked " Kansas party baggage, care 
B. Slater, St. Louis." Generally this was con- 
fiigntd lis freight, in the usual way, to the care 
of a c<jHiii]issiiin merchant. This party had, in 
addition to tin- usual allowance of one hundred 
pounds to each passenger, a large quantity of 
baggage on which the respective owners paid 

(231) Benj. Slater, Charles Robinson, P, A. Hunt 
(232) Cbarlea Robinson. (23U) Samuel C. Smith. 



the usual extra freight (234). Each passenger 
or party paid his or their own expenses ; and 
the only benefit they derived from the Society, 
not shared by all the people of the Ten-itory, 
was the reduction of about $7 in the price of the 
fare, the convenience of traveling in a company 
instead of alone, and the cheapness and facility 
of transporting their freight through regular 
agents. Subsequently, many emigrants, Iseing 
either disappointed with the country or its poli- 
tical condition, or deceived by the statements 
made by the newspapers and by the agents of 
the Society, became dissatisiied, and returned, 
both before and after the election, to their old 
homes. Most of them are now settlers in the 
Territory (235). Some few voted at the election 
in Lawrence (235), but the number was small. 
The names of these emigrants have been ascer- 
tained, and of them were found upon 

the poll-books. This company of peaceful emi- 
grants, moving with their household goods, was 
distorted into an invading horde of pauper Abo- 
litionists, who were, with others of a similar 
character, to control the domestic institutions 
of the Territory, and then overturn those of a 
neighboring powerful State. 

In regard to the second charge : There is no 
proof that any man was either hired or induced 
to come into the Territory from any Free State, 
merely to vote. The entire emigration in March 
1855, is estimated at 500 persons (236) , including 
men, women, and children. They came on steam- 
boats up the Missouri Eiver, in the ordinary 
course of emigration. Many returned for causes 
similar to those before stated ; but the body of 
them are now residents. The only persons of 
those who were connected by proof with the 
election, were some who voted at the Big Blue 
Precinct in the Xth District, and at Pawnee in 
the IXth District. Their purpose and character 
are stated in a former part of this report. 

The third charge is entirely groundless. The 
organic law requires the Governor to cause an 
enumeration of the inhabitants and legal voters 
to be made, and that he apportion the members 
of the Council and House according to this enu- 
meration. For reasons stated by persons en- 
gaged in taking the census, it was not completed 
until the early part of March, 1855 (237). At that 
time the day of holding the election had not been, 
and could not have been, named by the Governor. 
As soon as practicable after the returns were 
brought in, he issued his proclamation for an 
election, and named the earliest day consistent 
with due notice, as the day of election. The day 
on which the election was to be held, was a mat- 
ter of conjecture all over the country; but it 
was generally known that it would be in the 
latter part of March. The precise day was not 
known by any one until the proclamation issued. 
It was not known to the agents of the Emigrant 
Aid Society in Boston on the 13th of March, 1855, 
when the party of emigrants, before referred to, 
left (238). 

Your Committee are satisfied that these charges 
were made the mere pretext to induce an armed 
invasion into the Territory, as a means to control 
the election and establish Slavery there. 

The real purpose is avowed and illustrated by 
the testimony and conduct of Col. John Scott, of 
St. Joseph's, Missouri, who acted as the attorney 
for the sitting delegate before your Committee. 
The following are extracts from his deposition : 

"Prior to the election in Burr-Oak precinct, in the 
XlVth district, on the 29lh of November, 1854, I had 
been a resident of Missouri, and I then determined, 
if I found it necessary, to become a resident of Kansas 

(234) B. Slater and P. A. Hunt. (235) Charles Robin- 
son. Samuel C. Smith. (236) W. H. Chick, Mr. Rid- 
dlerbuiger. (237) Wm. Barbour. (238) Charles Rob- 
inson, 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



137 



Territory. On tlio 'lay previous to that election, I 
gettli'd up my lioanl at my boarditB-house, iu St. 
Josi'pli's, Missouri, and went over to tlio Territory, 
and took boarding' with .Mr. liryaut. near whose hou»« 
the polla Were hel 1 the ueit day, for one month, so 
that I might have it in my power, liy merely deter- 
mining to do HO, to become a resident of the Territory 
on the day of election. 

" When my inimo was proposed as a Jud({o of Klee- 
tion, olijeotionR were made by two persons «.nly. * » • * 
I then publicly informed tlio-e present, that I had a 
claim ill the Territory ; that I had taken board iu the 
Territory fir a month, and that I could, at any mo- 
ment, become an actual resident and legal voter in the 
Torriti ry, and that I would do so, if I cMicluded at 
«ny time during the day that my vote wou d he neces- 
•ary to carry that precinct in favor of the Pro Slavery 
candidate for delegate to I'ongress. » * » * • I dnl 
not durinK the day consider it necessary to become a 
resident of the Territory lor the purpose mentioned, 
and did not vote or olVer to vote ai that election. 

" I held the ollico of City-Attoruey lor St. Joseph's 
at that lime, and had hold it for two or three years 
previously, and contiiiii"d to hoM it until this spring. 
* * * I voted at an election in St. Josi ph's, in the 
spring of 1855, and was re-»ppointed UityAttorney. 
The question of Slavery was put in issue at the election 
of November, l>io4, to the same extent as in every elec- 
tion in this Territory. Gen. Whitlield was regarded 
as the Pro-Slavery candidate for the Pro-Slavery 
party. I regarded the question of Slavery as the pri- 
marily promiDe"t is-iuo at that election, and, so far as 
I know, all parties agreed in making that question the 
iBsue of that election. 

" It is my initnfion, and the intention of a great 
many other Alissoutiuns now resident in Missouri, 
vhttifver the Slav^ry issue is to he determined upon hy 
the jicople of this Territory in the adoption of the State 
Constitution, to remove to this Territory in time to ac- 
quire the right to become legal voUrs upon that ijuestion. 
The lending purpose of our intended removal to the 
Territory is to determine the domestic institutions of 
this Territory, when it comes to he a State, and we 
would not come hut for that purpose, and would never 
think of eoniin% here hut for that purpose. I believe 
there arc a great many in Missouri tc'io are so situated." 

Tho inva.«ioii of ^farch 30th left both parties in 
a stnto of cxcitoiiK'nt, tendiuf; rlircctly t" produce 
violeiu-e. Tlie successful party was lawless and 
reckless, while nssiiininjj the name of the " Law 
and Order" party. The other party, at first Piir- 
priscd and confininded. was (jreatly irritated, and 
Bomc resolved to prevent the success of the inva- 
Bion. In some Districts, as before stated, protests 
•were sent to the Governor; in others, this was 
prevented by thrcat.s ; in others, by the want of 
time, only four days being allowed by the pro- 
clamatimi for this purpose ; and in others, by the 
belief that a new election would brinp a new in- 
vasion. About the same time, all classes of men 
commenced bearing deadly weapons about the 
person, a practice which has continued to this 
time. Uncicr tlieso circumstances, a slifjht or 
accidental quarrel produced unusual violence, 
and lawless acts became frequent. This evil 
condition of the public mind was further increased 
by acts of viok'nco in Western Missouri, where, 
in April, a newspaper press called The I'arkville 
Luminary was destroyed by a mob. 

About the same time, Malcolm Clark assaulted 
Cole McCrea, at a squatter meeting in Leaven- 
worth, and was shot by McCrea, in alleged self- 
defense. 

On the 17th day of May, William Phillips, a 
lawyer of LeaveiiWorth, was first notified to leave, 
and upon his refusal, was forcibly seized, taken 
across the river, and caiTied several miles into 
Missouri, and then tarred and feathered, and one 
side of his head shaved, and other gross indigni- 
ties put upon his person. 

Previous to the outrage a public meeting was 
held (239j, at which resolutions were unanimously 
passed, looking to unlawful violence, aiul grossly 
intolerant in their character. The right of free 
Bpeech upon the subject of Slaveiy was charac- 

(239) A. Payne. 



tcrizod ne a disturbanco of tlic pence and quiet 
of tho community, and as "circulating inctcn- 
diary sentiinenls," 'I'hey say "to the peculiar 
friomlH of northern fanuticM," "(lo iionie and do 
your treason whi-ro you miiy fin<l sympathy. 
Among other resolves, is the liiliowing : 

" Ilesolvtd, That the institution of Slavery is knowa 
anil rccogni-jied in this Territory; that wo repel the 
doctrine that it is a moral and political evil, and we 
hurl back with scorn upon its slanderous authors the 
charge of inhumanity ; and we warn all persons not to 
come to our paceful fireKides to slander ui, and i-uw 
the seeds of discord between the master and the serv- 
ant; for, as much as we dejirecale the necessity to 
which we may be driven, we cannot be responsible for 
the coUBcquenccB." 

A Committee of Vigilance of 30 men was ap- 
pointed, " to observe and report all such jierHons 
as sliall, • * ' " by (he expression of Abolition 
sentiments, produce diwtiirbaneo to the quiet of 
the citizens, or danger to their domestic rela- 
tions ; and all such persons so offending, shall be 
notified, and made to leave the Territory." 

The meeting was "ably and elntpiently ad- 
dressed by .Tu<ige Leconiiite, Col. .J. N. Ikirns 
of Western Missouri, ami oilier.-'." Thus the head 
of tlie Judiciary in the Territory, not only assist- 
ed at a public and bitterly jiarlisan meeting, 
whose direct tendency was to produce violence 
and disorder, but before any law is passed iu the 
Territory, he prejudges the character of the do- 
mestic institutions, which the pcoitle of the Ter- 
ritory were, by their organic law, " left perfectly 
free to form and regulate in their own way." 

On this Committee were several of those who 
held certificates of election as members of the 
Legislature ; some of the others were then and 
still are residents of Missouri; and many of the 
Committee have since been appointed to the 
leading oflices in the Territory, one of which is 
the SheriiTalty of the County. Their first act 
was that of mobbing Phillips. 

Subsequently, on the tiMi of May, a. d. 1855, 
a public meeting was held, at which K. K. Kecs, 
a member elect of the Council, prcside<l (240). 
Tho following resolutions, offered by Judge 
Payue, u meniber elect of the House, were una- 
nimously adopted : 

" Resolved. That we heartily indorse the action of 
the committee of citizens that shaved, tarred, and 
feathered, rode on a rail, and had sold by a negro, Wm. 
Phillips, ihe moral perjurer. 

" Jiesolved, That we return our thanks to the com- 
mittee for faithfully performing the trust enjoined 
upon them by the Pro-Slavery party. 

" Resolved, That the committee be now discharged. 

" Resolved, That we severely condemn those Pro- 
Slavery men who, from mercenary motives, are call- 
ing upon the Pro-Slavery party to submit without 
further action. 

"Resolved, That in order to secure peace and har- 
mony to the community, we now solemnly declare that 
the Pro-Slaverv party will stand firmly by ami carry 
out the resolutions reported by the committee ap- 
pointed for that purpose on the memorable 30th." 

The act of moral perjury here referred to, is 
the swearing by Phillips to a truthful protest in 
regard to the election of March 30, in trie XVIth 
District. 

The members receiving their certificates of 
the Governor as members of the General As- 
sembly of the Territory, met at Pawnee, tho 
Slace appointed by the Governor, on the 2d of 
uly, A. D. 1855. Their proceedings are stated 
in three printed books, lierewith submitted, en- 
titled respectively, "The Statutes of the Terri- 
tory of Kansas;" "The Journal of the Council 
of the Territory of Kansas;" and "The Journal 
of the House of Kepreseutatives of the Territory 
of Kansas." 

Your Committee do not regard their enact- 
ments as valid laws. A Legislature thus iin- 

(240) R. R. Rec*. 



138 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



posed upon a people, cannot afifect their political 
rights. Such an attempt to do so, if successful, 
is virtually an ovt^rthvow df tlie organic law, and 
reduces tlie people of the Territory to the condi- 
tion of vassals to a neighboring State. To avoid 
the evils of anarchy, no armed or organized re- 
Histauce to them should be made, but the citi- 
zens should appeal to the ballot-box at public 
elections, to the Federal Judiciary, and to Con- 
gress, for relief. Such, from Ihf proof, would 
have been the course of the poiii)le, but for tlie 
nature of these enactments and thu manner in 
which they are enforced. Tlieir character and 
their execution have been so intimately con- 
nected with one branch of this investigation — 
that relating to "violent and tumultuous pro- 
ceedings in the Territory" — that we were com- 
pelled to examine them. 

The "laws" in the statute-books are general 
and special ; the latter are strictly of a local 
character, relating to bridges, roads, and the like. 
The great body of the general laws are exact 
transcripts from the Missouri Code. To make 
them in some cases conform to the organic act, 
separate acts were passed, defining the meaning 
of words. Thus the word " State" is to be under- 
stood as meaning " Territory" (241) ; the word 
" County Court" shall be construed to mean the 
Board of Commissioners transacting county 
busines.s, or the Probate Court, according to the 
intent thereof The words " Circuit Court" to 
mean " District Court" ('-242). 

The material differences in the Missouri and 
Kansas statutes are upon the following subjects: 
The qualifications of voters and of members of 
the legislative assembly ; the ofiicial oath of all 
officers, attorneys, and voters: the mode of select- 
ing officers and their qualifications; the slave 
code, and the qualifications of jurors. 

Upon these subjects the provisions of the Mis- 
souri Code are such as are usual in many of the 
States. But by the " Kansas Statutes," every 
office in the Territory, executive and judicial, 
was to be appointed by the legislature, or by 
some officer appointed by it. These appoint- 
ments were not merely to meet a temporary exi- 
gency, but were to hold over two I'cgular elec- 
tions, and until after the general election in 
October, 1857 (243), at which the members of the 
new Council were to be elected (244). The new 
Legislature is required to meet on the first Mon- 
day in January, 1858 (245). Thus, by the terms 
of these "laws," the people have no control 
whatever over either the Legislature, the execu- 
tive, or the judicial departments of the territori- 
al government until a time before which, by the 
natural progri'ss of population, the territorial 
government will be superseded by a State gov- 
ernment. 

No session of the Legislature is to be held 
during 1856, but the members of the House are 
to be elected in October of that year (24(5). A 
candidate, to be eligible at this election, must 
swear to support the fugitive-slave law (247), and 
each judge of election, and each voter, if chal- 
lenged, must take the same oath (248). The 
same oath is required of every officer elected or 
appointed in the Territory, and of every attorney 
admitted to practice in the courts (249). 

A portion of the militia is reiiuired to muster 
on the day of election (250). " Every free white 
male citizen of the United States, and every 
free male Indian, who is made a citizen by treaty 
or otherwise, and over the age of twenty-one 
years, and who shall be an inkabUant of the 
Territory and of the county and district in which 
he offers to vote, and shall have paid a territori- 

(241) Statutes, page 718. (242) Statutes, page 766. 
(243) Statutes, pages 168, 227, 712. (244) 330 (245) 
475. l24tj) Statutes, page aso. (247) p. 333. (248) p. 
S32. (249) pp. 152, 339, 5, 6. (250) p. 469. 



al tax, shall be a qualified elector for all elect- 
ive offices (251)." Two classes of persons were 
thus excluded who by the organic act were al- 
lowed to vote, viz.: those who would not swear 
to the oath required, and those of foreign birth 
who had declared on oath their intention to be- 
come citizens (252). Any man of proper age 
who was in the Territory on the day of election, 
and who had paid one dollar as a tax to the Sher- 
iff, who was required to be at the polls to receive 
it (253), could votcasan " inhabitant," although 
he had breakfasted in Missouri, aud intended to 
return there for supper. There can be no doubt 
that this unusual and unconstitutional provision 
was inserted to prevent a full and fair expression 
of the popular will in the election of members of 
the House, or to control it by non-residents. 

All jurors are required to be selected by the 
Sheriff, and " no person who is conscientiously 
opposed to the holding of slaves, or who does 
not admit the right to hold slaves in the Territory, 
shall be a juror in any cause" affecting the right 
to hold slaves, or relating to slave property. 

The Slave (Jode, and every provision relating 
to slaves, are of a character intolerant and unu- 
sual even forthat class of legislation. The char- 
acter and conduct of the men appointed to hold 
office in the TeiTitory contributed very much to 
produce the events which followed. Thus Samuel 
I. Jones was appointed Sheriff" of the County of 
Douglas, which included within it the 1st aud 
lid Election-Districts. He had made himself 
peculiarly obnoxious to the settlers by his con- 
duct on the 30th of March in the lid District, 
and by his burning the cabins of Joseph Oakley 
and Samuel Smith (254). 

An election for delegates to Congress, to be 
held on the 1st day of October, 1855, was pro- 
vided for with the same rules and regulations as 
were applied to other elections. The Free-State 
men took no part in this election, having made 
arrangements for holding an election on the yth 
of the same month. The citizens of Missouri 
attended at the election of the let of October, 
some paying the d(dlar tax, others not being re- 
quired to pay it. They were present and voted 
at the voting-places of Atchison (25.5) and Doni- 
phan (256), in Atchison County; at Green 
Springs, Johnson County (257) ; at Willow 
Springs (258) ; Franklin (259), and Lecompton 
(260), in Douglas County; at Fort Scott, Bour- 
bon County (261; ; at Baptiste Paola.Lykins C!o., 
where some Indians voted, some whites paying 
the $1 tax for them (262) ; at Leavenworth 
City (263), and at Kickapoo City, Leavenworth 
County ; at the latter place under the lead of 
Gen. B. F. Stringfellow and Col. Lewis Barnes 
of Missouri (264). From two of the election pre- 
cincts at which it was alleged there was illegal 
voting — viz. : Delaware and Wyandotte, your 
Committee failed to obtain the attendance of 
witnesses. Your Committee did not deem it ne- 
cessary, in regard to this election, to enter into 
details, as it was manifest that, from there being 
but one candidate — Gen. Whitfield — he must 
have received a majority of the votes cast 
This election, therefore, depends not on the 
number or character of the votes received, but 
upon the validity of the laws under which it was 
held. Sufficient testimony was takeji to show 
that the voting of citizens of Missouri was prac- 
ticed at this election, as at all former elections in 
the Territory. The following table will exhibit 

(251) p. 332. (252) Statutes, p. 34. (253) p. 833. (254) 
Sarai. SmitU and Ed. Oakley. (255) D. W. field. (256) 
John Landis. (257) Kol)ert Morrow, E. Jeukios, B. C. 
VVfstfaH. (258) A. White, T. Wolvertou, J. Reid. 
(26t)) L. M. Cox, L. A. Prather. (260) B. C. Westfall. 
(261) E. B. Cook, J. Hamilton. (262) B C. Westfall. 
(263) G. F. Warreu, U. Niles Moore. (264) J. W. Ste- 
phens. 



THE KANSAS-NEBR^ISKA STRUGGLE. 



189 



the result of the testimony as regardftho number 
of legal and illi-i^nl vote^ at thw election. 'I'lu' 
County of MarKliall cndirarcx tlio name territory 
as was ineludud in the Xlth District; and tiie 
reasOQfl before tttated indicate that tlie ^eat ma- 



jority of the votcB then east were either illegal 
or fictitiouo. In the countieH to which our ex- 

aniinatiiin extended, tiiere were illegal votes 

cast, aa near aa the proof will oaablo uh to dotor- 
minc. 



ABSTKACT OF POLL-BOOKS OF OCTOBER I 1855. 



Counties. 



Atchison . 

Rourbon . 

Brown 

CaDioun .. 

D;ivi8 

Duniphan. 



Douglas . 



Franklin 

Jefferson 

Johupoii 

Leavenworth . 



I.yking... 

Lynu 

Madison.. 
Marshall. 
Nem:iha . 

Riley 

Shawnee. 



Wise 



Tow.vsnipa. 



GraB8ho|iper. 
Shannon 



Burr Oak 

Iowa 

Wayne 

Washington 

Wolf River 

Franklin 

Lawrence 

Lecompton .... 
Willow Springs . 



Alexandria .. 

Delaware 

Kickapoo 

Leavenworth . 
Wyandott 



(See Wise Co.). 



One Hundred and Ten . 

Tecumseh . 

Council Grove 



|5 



7 
131 
242 

4 
29 

8 
42 
31 
66 
69 

aa 

80 

42 

101 

103 

15 

42 

190 

42 

239 

150 

212 

246 

220 

67 

171 
6 
28 
23 
52 
14 



219 


_ 


242 


50 


4 


4 


29 


29 


12 


12 


— 


41 


— 


31 


— 


62 


— 


59 


261 


53 


— 


23 


— 


42 


332 


53 


15 


15 


45 


— 


190 


90 



895 





220 


70 


67 


— 


171 


24 


6 


6 


28 


28 


— 


23 


75 


62 


14 


14 



192 



100 



50 
100 



150 



While these enactmonta of the alleged legisla- 
tive assembly were being made, a movement 
was instituted to form a State govornmeut, and 
apply for admission into the Union as a State. 
The tirst step taliea by the people of the Territo- 
ry, in consequence of the invasion of March 30, 
1855, was the circulation for signature of a 
graphic and truthful memorial to Congress. 
Your Committee tind Uiat every allegation in 
this memorial has been sustained by the testi- 
mony. No further step wiis taken, as it was 
hoped that some action by the general govern- 
ment would protect them iu their rights. When 
the allegerl legislative assembly proceeded to 
construct the scries of enactments referred to, the 
settlers were of opinion that submission to them 
would result in depriving them of the rights se- 
cured to them by tlie organic law. Their politi- 
cal condition was freely discussed in the Territo- 
ry during the summer of 1855. Several meetings 
were held in reference to holding a convention to 
form a State government, and to apply for 
admission into the Union as a State. Public 
opinion gradually settled in favor of such an ap- 
plication to the Congress to meet in December, 
1855. The tirst general meeting was held in 
Lawrence on the 15th of August, 1855. 

The following preamble and resolutions were 
then pa.ssed : 

" Whereas. The people of Eansaii have heen, Bince 
its settlement, uuU now are, without any law-making 
power, therefore be it 



" Resolved, That we. the people of Kansas Territory, 
in mass moetinu; as-senibled, irrespective of party dia- 
tinctious, iufluenced by common necessity, and great- 
ly desirous of promoting the common good, do hereby 
call upon and request all bnna fide citizens of Kan- 
sas Territory, of whatever political views or predilec- 
tions, to consult together in their respective Klection- 
Districts, and in mass convention or otherwise, elect 
three delegates for each representative to which said 
Election- District is entitled in the Uoiise of Repre- 
sentatives of the Legislative Assembly, by proclama- 
tion of Governor Keoder, of date 19th of March, 1855 ; 
said delegates to assemble in convention, at the town 
of Topeka, on the 19th day of September. 1855, then 
and there to consider and determine upon all sub- 
jects of public interest, and particuUrly upon that 
having referonce to the speedy formation of a State 
Constitution, with an intention of an immediate ap- 
plication to be admitted as a State into the Union of 
the United States of America." 

Other meetings were held in various parts of 
the Territory, wliieli indorsed the action of the 
Lawrence meeting, and delegates were selected 
in compliance with its recommendations. 

Tluy met at Topeka, on tho 19th day of Sep- 
tember, IS.w. By their resolutions they pro- 
vided for the appointment of au E.vecutive Com- 
mittee to consist of seven persons, who were re- 
quired to " keep a record of their proceedings, 
and shall have a general superiutendence of tihe 
affairs of the Territory so far as regards the or- 
ganization of the State Government.' They 
were required to take steps for an election to be 
held on the second Tuesuay of the October fol- 



140 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



lowing, under regulations imposed by that Com- 
mittee, " for mi-nibers of a Convention to form a 
Constitution, adopt a Bill of Rights for the peo- 
ple of Kansas, and take all neeaful measures for 
organizing a State Government, preparatory to 
the admission of Kansas into the Union as a 
State." The rules prescribed were such as 
usually govern elections in most of the States of 
the Union, and in most respects were similar to 
those contained in the proclamation of Gov. 
Reeder for the election of March 30, 1855. 

The Executive Committee, appointed by that 
Convention, accepted their appomtmeut, and en- 
tered upon the discbarge of their duties by issu- 
ing a proclamation addressed to the legal voters 
of Kansas, requesting them to meet at their seve- 
ral precincts, at the time and places named in 
the proclamation, then and there to cast their 
ballots for members of a Constitutional Conven- 
tion, to meet at Topeka on tho 4th Tuesday of 
October then next. 

The proclamation designated tho places of 
elections, appointed judges, recited the qualifica- 
tions of voters and the apportionment of mem- 
bers of the Convention. 

After this proclamation was issued, public 
meetings were held in every district in the Ter- 



ritory, and in nearly every precinct. The State 
movement was a general topic of discussion 
throughout the Territory, and there was but lit- 
tle opposition exhibited to it. Elections were 
held at the time and places designated, and the 
returns were sent to the Executive Committee. 

The result of the election was proclaimed by 
the Executive Committee, and the members-elect 
were required to meet on the 23d day of October, 
1855, at Topeka. In pursuance of this procla- 
mation and direction, tho Constitutional Conven- 
tion met at the time and place appointed, and 
formed a State Constitution. A memorial to Con- 
gress was also prepared, praying for the admis- 
sion of Kansas into the Union under that Consti- 
tution. The Convention also provided that the 
question of the adoption of the Constitution and 
other questions be submitted to the people, and 
required the Executive Committee to take the 
necessary steps for that purpose. 

Accordingly, an election was held for that pur- 
pose on the 15th day of December, 1855, in com- 
pliance with the proclamation issued by the Exe- 
cutive Committee. The returns of this election 
were made by the Executive Committee, and aa 
abstract of them is contained in the following 
table ; 



ABSTRACT OF THE ELECTION ON THE ADOPTION OF THE 
STATE CONSTITUTION, DEC. 15, 1855. 





Precincts. 


Constitution. 


General Bank- 
ing Law. 


Exclusion of 

Megroesand 
Mulattoea 


S5 
p 

< 
o 

o 


Yes. 


No. 


Yes. 


No. 


Yes. 


No. 


1 

2 
3 

4 
5 

7 
8 

9 
10 

H 
IS 

14 

15 
16 
17 




S48 
7i 
11 
48 

137 
18 

1S5 
42 
24 
35 
72 
21 
18 
12 
39 
42 
82 
56 
39 
30 
21 
20 
14 
19 
45 
54 
22 
23 
12 
28 
20 
47 
19 
7 
24 
15 
32 
71 
7 


1 
2 
1 

4 

7 
_2 

3 

18 

1 
5 

2 


225 

59 

9 

31 

122 
13 

125 
41 
22 
23 
39 
16 

1 
21 
33 

4 
83 
32 
23 
16 

17 

15 

19 

5 

7 
1 
8 
7 
37 

3 
11 

4 
32 
63 

3 


83 

14 

3 

15 

11 

4 

9 

1 

2 

11 

38 

12 

16 

6 

19 

13 

33 

20 

7 

6 

5 

20 

14 

1 

29 

34 

14 

16 

11 

20 

13 

6 

18 

4 

12 

9 

1 

19 


133 
48 
12 
48 
113 
14 
69 
42 
22 
35 
69 
23 
20 
12 
25 
42 
S3 
38 
25 
10 
20 
20 
14 

7 
40 
50 
21 
22 
12 
28 
16 
45 
19 

6 
18 
14 
30 
71 

1 


223 
20 

2 
15 

4 
64 

2 

3 

7 

18 

2 

5 

17 

15 

19 

1 

11 
5 
3 

1 

4 

1 

6 
1 

2 

2 


356 
76 
12 
53 

137 
18 

136 
42 
24 
35 
72 
31 
21 
12 
43 
60 
37 
59 
44 
31 
21 
20 
14 
19 
46 
64 
22 
23 
12 
28 
20 
47 
19 
7 
24 
15 
33 
73 
7 








Bloomingtoa . 












Little Osage... . ._. 












OsHawattamie 




Ohio City — 


Mill Creek—.. 












Burr Oak 












Whitfinld 


Wolf River 


St. Joseph's Bottom 

Mt. Pleasant 




Total 


1731 


46 


1120 


664 


1287 


453 


1778 



N. B. Poll- Book at Leavenworth was destroyed. 



The Executive Committe tlien issued a procla- 
mation reciting the results of the election of the 
I5th of December, and at the same time provi- 



ded for an election to be held on the 15th day of 
January, 1856, for State officers and membera 
of the General Assembly of the State of Kansas. 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



141 



An election was noconlinjjly hold in the Bovcrnl | went to the Exccutivo Coinmiltec. An abstract 
election-prciinrts, tin- returns of which wcro I of tlu-m ia contuined in the r..ll.iwiii(,' tublc : 
AHSTUACT OF THE ELECTION OP JANUARY 15, 1856. 



PllSCrNCTS. 



WaHhingtou . . 

Doniphun . ... 

OfisHwatuinie . 

OsRije 

EiUiiiii .... 

Burr Oak 

Su Josi'ph'H Bottom... 
Padoii's House..— ..•• 

Wolf Riv.T 

Kiist Douglas . 

Stanton 

Potiiwatamie 

Titus 

Blaatoii 

Prairie City 

Ploasaut Hill 

Mission 

Palmyra . 

Franklin 

Little Sui^ar Creek 

Little Osage 

Topeka 

Ti'cuaiseli 

Brownsville 

Kickapoo 14 

Leaveuworlh .. 94 

Lawrence 365 

Neosho — 

Slough Creek — 

Wyandot 1 



58 



59 




— 35 — 



TrcMU'er. 



Precincts. 



Washington 

Doniphan - 

Ossawatamie 

Osage 

Eastou 

Burr Oak.... 

St. Josepti'g Bottom , 

Padon's [louse 

Wolf River 

East Douglas 

Stanton 

Potawatamie 

Titus 

Blanton 

Prairie City 

Pleasant Hill 

Mission 

Palmyra • 

Franklin 

Little Sugar Creek .. 

Little Osage 

Topeka 

Tecumseh ... 

Brownsville 

Kickapoo 

Leavenworth 

Lawrence 

Neosho . . ... 

Slough Creek 

Wyandot . 



Supreme Judges. 



1 

32 
SI 
19 
66 
24 
50 
27 
36 
29 
81 
39 
2S 
55 
27 
43 
10 
25 

8 
34 
19 
84 

1 

14 
94 
3S3 
13 
14 
35 



36 I 36 
27 i 28 
31 31 
39 39 



27 27 
43 ] 43 

10 10 

25 35 

8 8 

34 34 

19 19 

141 84 

25 1 



14 14 51 

101 94 7 

379 371 62 

13 

— 14 

35 1 — 



* Anthony Floyd 1. 



48 



Rep. S. 
Court. 



30 
32 
82 
19 
70 
24 
So 
27 
39 
31 
31 
39 
32 

70 
45 
*9 
25 
66 
36 
19 
146 
35 

05 
101 
427 
10 
14 
35 



Printer. 



1 

32 
S2 
19 
70 
24 
50 
27 
36 
28 
31 
39 
28 
64 
25 
43 
10 
25 
8 
33 
19 
96 
1 

18 
14 
94 
373 
13 



58 



142 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



The result of this election was announced 
by a proclamation by the Executive Commit- 
tee. 

In accordance with the Constitution thus 
adopk-d, the members of the State Legislature 
and most of the State officers met on the day 
and ut the place designated by the State Con- 
Btitution, and took the oath therein prescribed. 

After electing United States Senators, passing 
some preliminary laws, and appointing a Codi- 
fying Connnittee and preparing a Memorial to 
Con^n-ess. the General Assembly adjourned to 
meet on the 4th day of July, 1856. 

The laws passed were all conditional upon the 
admission ot Kansas as a State into the Union. 
These proceedings were rej^ular, and, in the opin- 
ion of your Committee, the constitution thus 
adopted fairly expresses the will of the majority 
of the settlers. They now await the action of 
Congress upon their memorial. 

These elections, whether they were con- 
ducted in pursuance of law or not, were not 
illegal. 

Whether the result of them is sanctioned by 
the action of Congress, or they are regarded as 
the mere expression of a popular will, and Con- 
gress should refuse to grant the prayer of the 
memorial, that cannot affect their legality. The 
right of the people to assemble and express their 
political opinion in any form, whether by means 
of an election or a convention, is secured to them 
by the Constitution of the United States. Even 
if the elections are to be regarded as the act of a 
party, whether political or'otherwise, they were 
proper, in accordance with examples, both in 
States and Territories. 

The elections, however, were preceded and 
followed by acts of violence on the part of those 
who opposed them, and those persons who ap- 
proved and sustained the invasion from Missouri 
were peculiarly hostile to these peaceful move- 
ments preliminary to the organization of a State 
government. Instances of this violence will be 
referred to hereafter. 

To provide for the election of delegates to 
Congress, and at the game time do it in such a 
manner as to obtain the judgment of (he House 
of Eepresentatives upon the validity of the al- 
leged legislative assembly sitting at Shawnee 
Mission, a convention was held at Big Springs 
on the 5th and 6th days of September, 1855. 
This was a party convention, and a party calling 
itself the Free-State party was then organized. 
It was in no way connected with the State move- 
ment, except that the election of a delegate to 
Congress was fixed by it on the same day as the 
election of members of a constitutional conven- 
tion, instead of the day prescribed by the al- 
leged legislative assembly. Andrew H. Reeder 
was i)ut in ni)niinatiou as territorial delegate to 
Congress, and an election was provided for un- 
der tiie regulalioiiB jjreseribeit for the election of 
March 30, 1855, excepting as to the appointment 
of ofiicers, and the persons to whom the returns 
of the elections should be made. The election 
Was held in accordance with these regulations, 
an abstract of the returns of which is contained 
in the following table : 

ABSTRACT OF THE ELECTION OF A. H. 
REEDER. 



District . — 


Voting 


Places. 




I 




657 




Blaoton 


77 






16 


II 




110 




Benicia 


27 



III 



VI 



VII 
VIII 



IX 
X 



XI 

XII 



XIV 

XV 

XVI 

XVII 
XVIII 



Brownsville... 

Topeka . 

Tecumsi-h 

Big Springs 

Camp Creek 

Willow Springs 

Hampden 

Neosho 

Stanton 

Ospawatamie 

Potawatamie .... . 
Big Sugar Creek... 
Little Sugar Creek. 

Scott Town 

Columbia 

Fergnals 

Council City 

Waubousa 

A. J. Baker 

Pawnee 

Big Blue 

Rock Creek 

Black Vermilion..-. 

St. Mary's 

Silver Lake 

Pleasant Hill 

Falls Precinct 

Hickory Point 

Burr Oak 

Doniphan 

Palermo 

Ocena 

Crosby's Store 

Jack.'^on Crane's -.- 

Leavenworth 

Wyandotte 

Di-laware 

Easton 

Ridge Point 

Wakarusa . 

Mission 

Iowa Point 



24' 
131 
31 

36 

7 
54 
83 
16 
44 
74 
66 
28 
41 
27 
20 
12 
62 
26 
16 
76 
77 
SO 
14 
18 
28 
43 
45 
11 
33 
43 
32 
32 
38 
38 
503 
38 
22 
63 
48 
7 

13 
40 



Total I 2827 

The resolutions passed by this convention in- 
dicate the state of feeling which existed in the 
Territory in consequence of the invasion from 
Missouri, and the enactments of the alleged le- 
gislative assembly. The language of some of 
tlie resiilutiuiis is violent, and can only be justi- 
fied either in consequence of the attempt to en- 
force the grossest acts of tyranny, or lor the pur- 
pose of guarding against a similar invasion in 
future. 

In the fall of 1855, there sprang out of the ex- 
isting discords and excitement in the Territory, 
two secret Free-State societies (265). They were 
defensive in their character, and were designed 
to form a prote<-tion to their members against 
unlawful acts of violence and assault. One of 
the societies was purely of a local character, and 
was confined to the town of Lawrence. Very 
shortly after its organization it produced its de- 
sired elfect, and then went out of use and ceased 
to exist (266). Both societies were cumbersome, 
and of no utility except to give confidence to the 
Free-State men, and enable them to know and 
aid each other in contemplated danger. So far 
as the evidence shows, they led to no act of vio- 
lence in resistance to either real or alleged laws 
(267). 

On the 2l8t day of November, 1855, F. M. 
Coleman, a Pro-Slavery man, and Charles W. 
Dow, a Free-State man, had a dispute about the 
division line between their respective claims. 
Several hours afterward, as Dow was passing 
from a blacksmith's sho)) toward his claim, and 
by the cabin of Coleman, the latter shot Dow 
with a double-barreled gun loaded with slugs. 
Dow was unarmed. He fell across the road and 
died immediately. This was about 1 o'clock 
r. M. His dead body was allowed to lie whore 
it fell until after sundown, when it was conveyed 
by Jacob Branson to his house, at which Dow 

(•265) Pat. Laughlin, Francis. (266) G. P. Lowry, A. 
II. Reeder. (2C7) Lowry, Reeder and M. F. Conway. 



THH KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



143 



bonixk'd. Tlio toKtimnny in roijiird lo Iliis Immi- 
cidc is voliiiiiinouH ('JDS/, hikI hIkiwh cUiirly lliiit 
it wiis 11 (U-lilxTdli' iiiurdtr l)y Cok'iimii, iiikI lliiit 
HniTit«iii Hulkolv aiui ii Mr. Hihk""'' wito nc- 
cen.fnrits to it. 'I'lic i-xcitcimnt ciuihcd liy it whh 
Very i,'ri-(it niiidii^ all cIuci-ch of Iho ci'ttk-rs. On 
the iitith, It iiir},'c intelin<; et" citizen.-* wiic iield at 
the place were tlic niunk>r was coniiiiiltcd, and 
resolutions jia.ssed thai Coleman hhoiild he 
broiij^'ht to jii.stiee. In the mean time Coleman 
had gone to Mi.sxouri, and llnii lo (iov. Shannon 
nt Shawnee Mission, in .lohnson County. He 
wa.-* there taken into custody hy S. I. Jones, then 
acting' as Sheritt". No warrant was issued or 
exaniiniition ha<l. On tin- day of the meelin>4 at 
Hickory Point, Harrison 1 trail lev ])rocured a iienct- 
wai rant aj^ainst Jaeoh IJranson, whi<di was ]ilaeed 
in Ihc hands of Jones. Thai same evening', 
after Ih-anson had <;one to bed, Jones came lo 
liis cahin with a parly of about LT) persons, 
amonj; whrnn were llar^'ous and IJuckley— burst 
open the door, and saw IJranson in bed. He then 
drew hia pisttd, cocked it, and jjresenled it to 
Branson's breast, and said, " You are my prison- 
er, an<l if you move I will blow yiju through." 
The others cocked their <;uns and feathered 
round him, and took him prisoner. They all 
mounted and went to IJuckhy's house. After a 
time they went on n circuitous route towards 
IJlantou's Bridge, stojjpiiig to " drink" on the 
way. As they approached the bridge, tiicre 
Were 13 in the party, several having stopped. 
Jones rode up to the prisoner and, among other 
things, told him that he had "heard there were 
100 men at yourhouse to day," and "that he re- 
gretted they were not there, and that they were 
cheated out of their sport" (269). In the mean 
time, the alarm had been given in the neighbor- 
hood of Bransons arrest, and several of the set- 
tlers, among whom were some who had attended 
the meeting at Hickory Point tliat day, gathered 
together. They were greatly excited ; the al- 
leged iniusliee of such an arrest of a quiet set- 
tler, under a jieaee warrant by " Sheriff Jones," 
aided by two men believed to be aceessory to a 
murder, and who were allowed to be at large, 
exasj)erated them, and they proceeded as rapidly 
as possible by a nearer route than that taken by 
Jones, and stopped near the house of J. 8. Ab- 
bott, one of them. They were on foot as Jones's 
party api)ioaehed on a canter. The rescuers 
suddenly formed across the road in front of Jones 
and his party. Jones halted, and a.sked, •' What's 
up .'■' The reply was, " That's what we want to 
know. What's up ?" Branson said, " They have 
got me a prisoner." Some one in the rescuing 
party told liini to come over to tlieir side. He 
did so, and dismounted, and the mule he rode 
was driven over to Jones's party ; Jones then 
left (27(1). Of the i>crson8 engaged in this rescue, 
three wcrc' from Lawrence, and had attended 
the meeting. Your Connuittec have deemed it 
proper to detail the particulars of this rescue, as 
it was made the groundwork of what is known 
as the Wukerusa War. On the same night of 
the rescue the cabins of Coleman and Buckley 
were burned, but by whom, is left iu doubt by 
the testimony. 

On the morning of the rescue of Branson, 
Jones was at the village of Franklin, near Law- 
rence. The re.-?eucwas spoken of in the presence 
of Jones, and more couvei-saf ion passed between 
two others in his presence, as to whether it was 
most proper to send for assistance to Col. Boone 
in Missouri, or to Gov. Shaimon. Jones wrote a 
dispatch and handed it to a messenger. As soon 
as he started, Jones said: " That man is taking 
my dispatch to Missouri, and by G— d 1 11 have 

(268) Wm. and Nicholas McKinoey. D. T. Jones 
and wife, Tliomas Browu, F. M. Colemaa and others, 
(269) Jacob Braneon. (270) Jacob Branson. 



revengi' before I see MiHsouri." A person pre- 
sent, who was <'xannni'd as a witness (271), com- 
plained publicly that the dispatch was not sent 
to the governor; and williin half an hour one 
was sent to the governor by Jones, through Har- 
gouH. Within a few days, large numliers of men 
from theSlMtc ofMis>ouri gathered andencHmp- 
cd on the Wakerusa. They brought with them 
all the <'i|uipments of wiir. To obtain them, a 
jiarly ofmcn under Ihe direclion of . Judge T. V. 
l'houips<ui brok(! iiilo Ihe I'liiled Slates arsenal 
and armory at Liberty, Miss<iuri, and after a 
forcible delenlion <d' Captain Leonard (then in 

charge) (272), tliey lo(di the cai n, musketB, 

rilicM, powder, harness, and indee<l all llie nnile- 
rials and munitions of war tliey d<!>ired, some of 
which liave never bt^en returned or accounted 
for. 

The chief iioslilily of this militarv foray was 
against the town of Lawrence, nn"d Ihi.s was 
especially Ihe case with the olHcers of the law. 

Vour Connnitlee can see in the testimony no 
reason, e.xeuse, or palliation for Ibis feeling. Up 
lo thix time no ■warriinl or jirodamol ion of any 
kind hiid hern in III)' hn nth of (tny ojjiicr (ifiiiinut 
any citizen of /.fiirrvncv (273). No arre.-t had 
been altemj)ted, and no writ resisted in that 
town. The n scue of Branson sprang out of a 
niurder committed thirteen miles from Lawrence, 
in a detached settlement, and neither the town 
nor its citizens extended any protection to Bran- 
son's rescuers (271). On the contrary, two or 
three days after the rescue, S. N. Wood, who 
claimed publicly to be one of the rescuing party, 
wished to be arrested f(»r the purpose of testing 
the territorial laws, and walked up to Sheriff 
Jones and shook hands with him, and e.xchau'"ed 
other courtesies. He could have been ar"- cd 
without any difficulty, and it was his .osign, 
when lie went to Mr. Jones, to be arrested, but 
no attemiit was made to do so (275). 

It is obvious thai the only cause of this hostili- 
ty is the known desire of the citizens of Law- 
rence to make Kansas a Free State, and their 
repugnance to laws imposed upon them Ijy non- 
residents. 

Your Committee do not propose to detail the 
incidents connected with this foray. Fortu- 
nately for the peace of the country, a direct con- 
flict betwi'en the opposing forces was avoided 
by an jimicable arrangement. The losses sus- 
tained by the settlers in property taken and time 
and money expended in their own defi-nsc, add- 
ed much to the trials incident to a new settle- 
ment. Many persons were unlawfully taken 
and detained — in some cases, under circum- 
stances of gross cruelty. This was especially so 
in the arrest and treatment of Dr (i. A. Cutter 
and G. F. Warren. They were taken, without 
cause or warrant, tiO miles from Lawn nee, and 
when Dr. Cutter was quite 6i<di. They were 
compelled to go to the camp at Lawrence, were 
put into the custody of " Sheriff Jones, " who 
had no jtrocess to arrest them — they were taken 
into tt tmall room kept as a liquor shop, which 
was open and very cold. That night Jones 
came in with others, and went to " plaving 
poker at tw-enty five cents ante." The prison- 
ers were oblig( d to sit up all night, as there 
was no room to lie down, when the men were 
plaving. Jon<-s insulted them freciuently, and 
told one of them he must either " tell or swing.' 
The guard then objicted to this treatment of 
prisoners, and Jom s desisted. G. F. Warren 
thus describes their subsequent conduct : 

They then carrie<l us down to their camp; 
Kelly of 7'Ae Sr/uo/frr Sorcrciifn, who lives in 
Atchison, came round and said he thirsted for 

(i;"l) L. A. Prattior. (272) Luther Leonard. (273) 
William Shannon, Chas. Robinson. (274) O. 1'. howry 
and Charles Bobinsoo. (275) Chas. Bobiuson. 



U4 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



blood, and paid he bhould like to hang us on the 
first trie. Cutter was very weak, and that ex- 
cited him 60 that he became delirious. They 
sent fur three doctors, who came. Dr. String- 
fellow was one ot" ihem. Tliey remained there 
witli CJutter until after midnight, and then took 
him up to the ofliee, as it was very cold in camp. 

During tile loray, either George W. Clark, or 
Mr. Burns, murdered Thomas Barber, while the 
latter was on the highway on his road from Law- 
rence to his claim. Both fired at him, and it is 
impos.sible from the proof to tell whose shot was 
fatal. The details of this homicide are stated 
by eye-witnesses (276). 

Among the many acts of lawless violence 
which it has bien the duty of your Committee 
to investigate, this invasion of Lawrence is the 
most defenseless. A comparison of the facts 
proven, with the official statements of the offi- 
cers of the Government, will show how ground- 
less were the pretexts which gave rise to it. A 
community in which no crime had been commit- 
ted by any of its members, against none of whom 
had a warrant been issued or a complaint made, 
who had resisted no process in the hands of a 
real or pretended officer, was threatened with 
destruction in the name of" law and order," and 
that, too, by men who marched from a neigh- 
boring State with arms obtained by force, and 
who, in every stage of their progress, violated 
many laws, and among others the Constitution 
of the United States (277). 

The chief guilt of it must rest on Samuel J. 
Jones. His character is illustrated by his lan- 
guage at Lecompton, where peace was made : 
" The said Maj. Clark and Burns both claimed 
the credit i^f killing that d — d Abolitionist, and 
he didn't know which ought to have it. If 
Shannon hadn't been a d — d old fool, that peace 
would never have been declared. He would 
have wiped La^vrence out. He had men and 
means enough to do it" (278). 

Shortly after the retreat of the forces from 
before Lawrence, the election upon the adoption 
of the State Constitution was held at Leaven- 
worth City, on the 15th of December, 1855. 
While it was proceeding quietly, about noon, 
Charles Dunn, with a party of others, smashed 
in the window of the building in which the elec- 
tion was being held, and then jumped into the 
room where the Judges of election were sitting, 
and drove them off (279). One of the clerks of 
election snatched up the ballot-box and followed 
the Judges, throwing the boxbehind the counter 
of an adjoining room through which he passed on 
his way out. As he got to the street door, Dunn 
caught him by the throat, and pushed him up 
against the outside of the building, and demand- 
ed the ballot-box (280). 

Then Dunn and another person struck him in 
the face, and he fell into the mud, the crowd 
rushed on him and kicked him on the head and 
in his sides (281). In this manner the election 
was broken up, Dunn and his party obtaining 
the ballot-box and carrying it off. 

To avoid a similar outrage at the election for 
State officers, etc., to be held on the 15th of Janu- 
ary, 1856, the election for Leavenworth District 
was appointed to be held at Easton, and the 
time iHtstponed until the 17th day of January, 
18.j6 (282). On the way to the election, persons 
were stopped by a party of men at a grocery, 
and their guns taken from them (283). During 
the afternoon, parties came up to the place of 

(276) Robert T. Barber, Thomas W. Pierson, Jane 
Vt. Colboni and other.'). (277) Article 4 of the 
Amcmiments. (278) Ilarriaou Nichols. (279) Geo. 
WelheroU. Ceorge II. Keller. (2S0) (Jeorge Wctlior- 
ell. (281) (Jenrgc Wetherell, George W Ilallis. 

(282) J. C. Green, Henry J. Adams, Joseph H. Bird. 

(283) Stephen Sparks. 



election and threatened to destroy the ballot-box 
and were guilty of other insolent and abusive 
conduct (283). After the polls were closed, 
many of the settlers being apprehensive of an 
attack, were amied in the house where the elec- 
tion had been held until the next morning. Late 
that night Stephen Spark, with his son and 
nephew, started for home, his route running by 
the store of a Mr. Dawson, where a large party 
of armed men had collected. As he approached, 
these men demanded that he should surrender, 
and gathered about him to enforce the demand 
(284). Information was carried by a man in the 
company of Mr. Sparks to tlie house whore the 
election had been held. R. P. Brown and a com- 
pany of men iiniiiediately went down to relieve 
Mr. Sparks, and did relieve him when he was in 
imminent danger (285). Mr. Sparks then started 
back with Mr. Brown and his party, and while 
on their way were fired upon by the other party. 
They returned the tire, and an iiregular fight 
then ensued, in which a man by the name of 
Cook, of the Pro-Slavery party, received a mor- 
tal wound, and two of the Free-State party were 
slightly wounded. 

Mr. Brown, with seven others who had accom- 
panied him from Leavenworth, started on their 
return home. When they had proceeded a part 
of the way, they were stopped and taken prison- 
ers by a party of men called the Kickapoo Ran- 
gers, under the command of Capt. John W. 
Martin. They were disanned and taken back to 
Easton, and put in Dawson's store (286). Brown 
was separated from the rest of his party, and 
taken into the office of E. S. Trotter (287). By 
this time several of Martin's party and some of 
the citizens of the place had become intoxicated, 
and expressed a determination to kill Brown 
(288). 'Capt. Martin was desirous, and did all 
in his power to save him. Several hours were 
spent in discovering what should be done with 
Brown and his party. In the mean time, without 
the knowledge of his party, Capt. Martin liberat- 
ed all of Broom's party but himself, and aided 
them in their escape (289). The crowd repeated- 
ly tried to get in the room where Brown was, 
and at one time succeeded, but were put out by 
Martin and others. Martin, finding that further 
effort on his part to save Brown was useless, left 
and went home. The crowd tlien got possession 
of Brown, and finally butchered him in cold blood. 
The wound of which he died was inflicted with a 
hatchet by a man of the name of Gibson. After 
he had been mortally wounded, Brown was sent 
home with Charles Dunn, and died that night. 
No attempt was made to arrest or punish the 
murderers of Brown. Many of them were weU- 
knowu citizens, and some of them were otficera 
of the law. On the next Grand Jury which sat 
in Leavenworth County, the Sheriff" summoned 
several of the persons inplicated in this murder 
(290). One of them was M. P. Rively, at that 
time Treasurer of tlie County. He has been ex- 
amined as a witness before us. The reason he 
gives why no indictments were found is, " they 
killed one of the Pro-Slavery men, and the Pro- 
Slavery men killed one of the others, and I 
thought it was about mutual." The same Grand 
Jury, however, found bills of indictment against 
thos'e who acted as Judges of the Free-State elec- 
tion. Rively says, " I know our utmost endea- 
vors were made to find out who acted as Judges 
and Clerks on the 17th of January last, and at 
all the bogus elections held by the Abolitionists 

(284) Stephen Sparks. (285) George A. Taylor, 
Stephen imparks, J. H. Bird. (280) Henry J. Adams, 
(iporge A. Taylor, W. P. Kirby, John H. Martin, Wiley 
Williams. (287) Henry J. Adams, J. W. Martin. (288) 
Wiley Williams, J. W Martin. H. J. Adams. (289) 
H. J. Adams, G. A. Tavlor, J. H. Bird, Wiley Wil- 
liams. (290) M. P. Eively. 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



145 



here. \Vc wore very nnxioun to find tliom out, um 
we thoiij^'lil tliiin (K-tiii;; illi'^jally." 

Your Ciiiiiiiiiitcc, in tlieir fxiiitiinntion, bnve 
found that in no ciiso of criinc or liomiciilc, men- 
tionei] in tin- rcpiirt or in tlie testimony, lias imy 
indictment bt.'eii found nt,'uni>t tiie tri'dly pnrty, 
cxeept in the lioniieido of Cliirk byMcL'rcii, Mc 
Creii bcrin},' u Kree-.State num. 

Your Connnilteo did not deem it within their 
power or duly to tiiko testimony a« to oyents 
whieii have Iransjiireil since the date of their ap 
puintnieut; Ijut us some of the eveflts- tended 
seriously to cndvirrass, hinder and dcday Ihcir 
investi;;aiiiins, they deem it. projier Ikmc io rel'cr 
to them. C)a their lU'rivnl in the Territory, tlic^ 
people were arrayed in two hostile |)arlioM. The 
bostiliiy of them was continually incfensod dur- 
iuic our slay in tlui Territory, tiy the arrival of 
armed bodies of men wiio, from their ci|iiipnienls, 
came not Io fdllow the peaceful i)ursuits of life, 
but armed and organized iuU< companies, appii- 
rently for wai- — by Ihe unlawful detention of per- 
sons and property while passini^ throutfh the 
State of Missouri, and by fre<iueut forcible 
seizures of persons and property in the Territory 
without lejjal warrant. Your Commitlce rc;;rel 
that they were ccmipciled to witness instances of 
each of these (dasses of outra-^es. While luddin<r 
their session at Westjiort, AIo., at the reiiue>t of 
the sittiuf; l>eiej,'ale, they saw several bodies of 
armed men, confessedly citizens of Missouri, 
inarch into the Territory on forays against its 
citizens, but under the pretense of eiiforeinj; the 
enactments before referred to. The wagons of 
emigrants were stopped in the highways, and 
searched without claim or legal powers, and in 
some instances all their property taken from 
them. In Leavenworth City, leading citizens 
Were arrested at noonday in our presence, by an 
armed force, without any claim of authority, ex- 
cept that derived from a self-constituted Com- 
mittee of Viirilaiu-e, many of whom wei'e Legis- 
lative and Executive ofiieers. Some were re- 
leased on promising to leave the Territory, and 
others, afier being detained for a time, were form- 
ally notified to leave, under the severest penal- 
ties. The only offense charged against them was 
their politic-al opinions, and no one was thus ar- 
rested lor alleged crime of any grade. There was 
no rc.-^istance to these lawless acts by the settlers, 
because, in their opinion, the persons engaged in 
them would be sustained and reinforced by the 
citizens of the populous border counties of Mis- 
souri, from whence they were only separated by 
the river. In one case witnessed by your Com- 
mittee, an api)lieation for the writ of habeas cor- 
pus was prevented by (he urgent solicitation of 
Fro-Slavery men, who insisted that it would en- 
danger the life of the prisoner to be discharged 
under legal process. 

While we remained iu the Territoiy, repeat- 
ed acts of outrage were committed upon the 
quiet, unotfending citizens, of which we received 
authentic intelligence. Men were attacked on 
the highway, robbed, and subsequently im- 
prisoned. Men were seized and searched, and 
theu" weapons of defense taken from them with- 
out compensation. Horses were frequently taken 
and ai)pro]iriuted. Oxen were taken from the 
yoke while jplowing, and butchered in the pres- 
ence of their owners. One young man was seized 
in the streets of the town of Atchison, and 
under circumstances of gross barbarity was 
tarred and cottencd, and in that condition was 
Bent to his family. All the provisions of the 
Constitutinn of the United States, securing per- 
sons and property, are utterly disregarded. 
The officers ot the law, mstead of protecting 
the people, were in some instances engaged in 
these outrages, and in no instance did we learn 
that any man was arrested, indicted or pua- 
10 



ished for any of these crimes. While such 
<df<-n»eH were committed with inipuniiy the laws 
were used as a means (d" indicting men lor hold- 
ing electiiins, iirelinnnary to fran.ing a coii^titu- 
tiou ami apply. ng for udmission into ihc Uuiun 
as the Stale <il Kansas. Charges of high treason 
were mad.- against prominent eiiizeiis upon 
grounds which seem to your Connnillee absurd 
and ridiculous, and un<ler Ihese charges they arc 
now lield in custody and arc refused the privi- 
lege i.f bail. In several eases men were arrested 
in Ihe State of Missouri while jiassing on llicir 
lawful business through that State, and detained 
until indictments could be found in Ihe Terri- 
tory. 

'riieso i)roceedings were followed l)y an offense 
of still greater magnitud(>. Under color of 
legal process, a company of abiuit "HO armed 
men, the gnat body of whom yuur Conmiit- 
leo are satisfied were not citizens of Ihe'I'erritoiy, 
marched into the town of Lawrence tinder Mar- 
shal Donaldson and S. .F. .Jones, ollieeis claim- 
ing to act under the law, and bombarded and 
then burned to the ground a valuable hotel and 
one private house; destroyed two ])riiitiiig- 
jiresses and material ; and then, being released 
by the otlieers, whoso (losse they claim to be, 
proceeded to sack, pillage, and rob hou.ses, stores, 
trunks, etc., even to the clothing of women and 
ihildren. Some of the letters thus unlawfully 
taken were private ones, written by the contest- 
ing Delegate, and they were oft'ered in evidence. 
Your Conimittee did not deem that Ihe persons 
holding them had any right thus to use them, 
and refused to be made the instruments to report 
private letters thus obtained. 

This force was not resisted, because it was col- 
lected and marshidcd uuder the forms of law. 
But this act of barbarity, unexampled in the 
history of our Government, was followed by its 
natural consequences. All tiio restraints which 
American citizens are accustomed to pay even 
to the ajipearance of law, were thrown otV; one 
act of violence led to another ; honiieides became 
frequent. A party under II. C. I'ate, composed 
chietly of citizens of Jlissouri, were taken prison- 
ers by a party of settlers; and while your Com- 
mittee were at Westport, a coinpan> chieHy of 
Missourians, accompanied by the acting Dele- 
gate, went to i-elievc Pate and his party, and a 
collision was prevented by the United States 
troops. Civil war has seemed impending iu the 
Territory. Nothing can prevent so great a ca- 
lamity but the presence of a large force of United 
States troops, under a commander who will with 
prudence and discretion quiet the excited pas- 
sions of both parties, and expel with force the 
armed bands of lawless men coming from Mis- 
souri and elsewhere, who with criminal pertinaci- 
ty infest that Territory. 

In some eases, and as to one entire election-dis- 
trict, the condition of the country prevented the 
attendance of witnesses, who were either arrested 
or detained while obeying our process, ov deter- 
red from so doing. The Sergeant-at Arms who 
served the processes upon them was himself ar- 
rested and detained for u short time by an armed 
force, claiming to be a part of the po.sse of the 
Marslial. but was allowed to proceed iqnui an 
examination of his papers, and was t'uniished 
with a pass, signed by " Warren D. AN'ilkes of 
South Carolina." John Upton, another oflicer 
of the Committee, was subsequently stopjjcd by 
a lawless force on the borders of the Territory, 
and after being detained and treated with great 
indignity was released. He also was funnshed 
with a pass signed b}' two citizens i>f Missouri, 
and addiX'Ssed to " Pro-Slavery men.'' IJy reason 
of these disturbances we were delayed in West- 
port, so that while iu session there, our time was 
but partially occupied. 



146 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



But the obstruction which created the most 
serious ombarrasBment to your Committee was 
the uUciniitod arrest of Gov. Reeder, the contest- 
ing Dcksriite, upon a writ of attachment issued 
atiainst lam by Judge Lecompto to compel his 
altendaii'-o as a witness before the Grand Jury of 
Douglas County. William Fane, recently from the 
State of Georgia, and claiming to bo the Deputy 
Marshal, came into the room of the Committee 
while (!ov. Reeder was examining a witness be- 
fore us, and producing the writ required Gov- 
Reedcr to attend him. Subsequent events have 
only strengthened the conviction of your Com- 
mittee that this was a wanton and unlawful in- 
terference by the Judge who issued the writ, tend- 
ing greatly to obstruct a full and fair investiga- 
tion. Gov. Reeder and Gen. Whitfield alone 
were fully possessed of that local information 
which would enable us to elicit the whole truth, 
and it was obvious to every one that any event 
which would separate either of them from the 
Committee would necessarily hinder, delay, and 
embarrass it. Gov. Reeder claimed that, under 
the circumstances in which he was placed, he 
was privileged from arrest except for treason, 
felony, or breach of the peace. As this was a 
question of privilege, proper for the Courts, or 
for the privileged person alone to determine on 
his peril, we declined to give him any protection 
or take any action in the matter. lie refused to 
obey the writ, believing it to be a mere pretense 
to get the custody of his person, and fearing, as 
he alleged, that he would be assassinated by 
lawless bands of men then gathering in and near 
Lecompton. He then left the Territory. 

Subsequently H. Miles Moore, an attorney in 
Leavenworth City, but for several years a citi- 
zen of Weston, Mo., kindly furnished the Com- 
mittee information as to the residence of persons 
voting at the elections, and in some eases ex- 
amined witnesses before ns. He was arrested on 
the streets of that town by an armed band of 
about thirty men, headed by W. D. Wilkes, 
without any color of authority, confined, with 
other citizens, under a military guard for twenty- 
four hours, and then notified to leave the Terri- 
tory. His testimony was regarded as important, 
and upon his sworn statement that it would en- 
danger his person to give it openly, the majority 
of your Committee deem it proper to examine him 
ex parte and did so. 

By reason of these occurrences, the contestant, 
and the party with and for whom he acted, were 
unrepresented before us during a greater portion 
of the time, and your Committee were required 
to ascertain the truth in the best manner they 
could. 

Your Committee report the following facts 
and conclusions as established by the testimony : 
First : That each election in the Territory, 
held under the organic or alleged Territorial law, 
has been carried by organized invasions from 
the State of Missouri, by which the people of the 
Territory have been prevented from exercising 
the rights secured to tbem by the organic law. 

Second : That the alleged Territorial Legisla- 
ture was an illegally-constituted body, and had 
no powerto pass valid laws, and their enactments 
are, therefore, null and void. 

Third : That these alleged laws have not, as 
a general thing, been used to protect persons and 
property and to punish wrong, but for unlawful 
purposes. 

Fourth: That the election under which the 
sitting Delegate, John W. Whitefield, holds his 
seat, was not held in pursuance of any valid law, 
and that it should be regarded only as the ex- 
pression of the choice of those resident citizens 
who voted for him. 

Fiff/i ■■ That the election under which the con- 
testing Delegate, Andrew H. Reeder, claims his 



seat, was not held in pursuance of law, and that 
it should be regarded only as the expression of 
the choice of the resident citizens who voted for 
him. 

Sixth : That Andrew H. Reeder received a 
greater number of votes of resident citizens than 
John W. Whitfield, for Delegate. 

Seventh : That in the present condition of the 
Territory a ftxir election cannot be held without 
a new census, a stringent and well-guarded 
election l^w, the selection of impartial Judges, 
and the presence of United States troops at every 
place of election. 

Eighth ; That the various elections held by 
the people of the Territory preliminary to the 
fonnation of the State Government have been as 
regular as the disturbed condition of the Terri- 
tory would allow ; and that the Constitution 
passed by the Convention, held in pursuance of 
said elections, embodies the will of a majority of 
the people. 

As it is not the province of your Committee 
to suggest remedies for the existing troubles in 
the Territory of Kansas, they content themselves 
with the foregoing statement of facts. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

Wm. a. Howard, 
JouN Sherman. 



The Free-State Coustitution framed at 
Topeka for Kansas, by the Convention called 
by the Free-State party, (as set forth in the 
foregoing documents,) was in due season sub- 
mitted to Congress — Messrs. Andrew H. 
Reeder (the Free-State Territorial delegate) 
and James H. Lane having been chosen by 
the first Free-State Legislatui-e Senators of 
the United States, and Mr. M. W. Dclahay 
elected Representative in the House, by the 
Free-State men of Kansas. Of course, these 
were not entitled to their seats until the 
aforesaid instrument (known as " the Topeka 
Constitution") should be accepted by Con- 
gress, and the State thereupon admitted into 
the Union. This Constitution, being form- 
ally presented in either House, was received 
and referred to their respective Committees 
on Territories ; but the accompanying Me- 
morial from the Free-State Legislature, set- 
ting forth the grounds of the application, 
and praying for admission as a State, was, 
after having been received by the Senate, 
reconsidered, rejected, and returned to Col. 
Lane, on the allegation that material changes 
had been made in it since it left Kansas. 
The Senate, in like manner, rejected repeated 
motions to accept the Constitution, and 
thereupon admit Kansas as a Free State — 
there never being more than Messrs. Hamlin 
and Fessenden of Maine, Hale and Bell of 
New-Hampshire, Collamer and Foot of Ver- 
mont, Sumner and Wilson of Mass., Foster 
of Connecticut, Seward and Fish of New 
York, Wade of Ohio, Durkee and Dodge of 
Wisconsin, Trumbull of Illinois, and Harlan 
of Iowa, (16) Senators in favor of such ad- 
mission, and these never all present at the 
same time. 

In the House — the aforesaid Constitution 
and Memorial having been submitted to the 



THE KANSxVS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



147 



Committee on Torriturios, its Chairman, : 
Mr. (Jrow of Peniia., friMU a majority of said 
Committee, reported in I'avor of tlie admis- 
sion of Kansius uiider sueh Constitutii)n, tus 
a Free State; and after debate tiie Previous 
Question tliereon was ordered (June 28tli) 
by a vote of 98 Ayes to (;;{ Noes. I'revious 
to tliis, liowever, Mr. Stephens of (Jeorf,fia 
had proposed, as an amendment or substitute, 
a radieuily dilTerent bill, eoiitemphitinj!^ the 
appointiiu'iit by the President and Senate of 
live Connnissioners, wiio sliouid repair to 
Kansas, take a census of the inhal)itants and 
legal voters, and thereupon proceed to ap- 
portion, during the month of September, 
1856, the delegates (r>2) to form a constitu- 
tional convention, to be elected by the legal 
voters aforesaid ; said delegates to be chosen 
on the day of the Presidential election (Tues- 
day, Nov. 4th, IB.tG), and to assemble in 
convention on the first Monday in Decemlier, 
18r)G, to form a State Constitution. The 
bill proposed, also, penalties for illegal voting 
at said election. 

To this substitute-bill, Mr. Dunn of In- 
diana proposed the following amendment, to 
come in at the end as an additional section : 

Sec. 18. And l>c it further enacted. That so 
much of the fourteenth section find of the thirty- 
second section of tlie act passed at the first ses- 
sion of the Thu-tyThird Congress, commonly 
culled the Kansas and Nebraska act, as reads 
as follows : " Except the eighth section of the net 
urcpuratory to the admission of Jlissouri into the 
Union, approved Mareh 6, 1820, which, being 
inconsistent with the principle of non-interven- 
tion by Congress with shivery in the States and 
Territories, as recognized by the legislation of 
1850, eominonly called the compromise measures, 
is hereby declared inoperative and void ; it 
being the true intent and meaning of this act 
not to legislate slavery into auv State or Terri- 
tory, or to exclude it therefrom, "but to leave the 
people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate 
their domestic institutions in their own wav, sub- 
ject only to the Constitution of the United 
btates : Provided, That nothing herein contained 
shall be construed to revive or put in force any 
law or regulation which may have existed prior 
to the act of 6th March, 1820, cither protecting, 
establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery," 
be, and the same is thereby, repealed, provided 
that any person or persons lawfully held to 
service within either of the Territories named in 
said act shall be discharged fiom such service, 
if they shall not be removed and kept out of said 
Territories within twelve months from the pas- 
sage of this act 

Mr. Dunn's amendment to the Stephens 
amendment or substitute, was carried : Yeas 
109 ; Nays 102— as follows : 

YEAS— Mes.srs. Albright, Allison, Ball, Bar- 
bour, Henry Bennett, Benson, Billinghurst, 
Bingham, Bishop, Bliss, Bradshaw, Brenton, 
Broom, Buffinton, Burlingame, James II. Camp- 
bell, Lewis D. Campbell, Bayard Clarke, Ezra 
Clark, Clawson, Colfax, Comiiis, Covode, Cragin, 
Cumbaek, Damrell, Tiinolhv D;ivis, Dean, De 
Witt, Diek, Diekson, Dodd, Dunn, Durfee, 
Edie, Edwards, Emrie, Flagler, (iuiloway, Gid- 
dings, Gilbert, Granger, (Jrow, Robert B. Hall, 
Harlan, Harrison, Haven, Hollowav, Thomas li. 
Horton, Valentine B. Horton, Howard, Hugh- 



ston, Kc-lsoy, King, Knajip, Knighl, Knowlton, 
Knox, Kiiiikel, Leiter, Mace, JIattesoii, Me- 
("arty, Mraehani, Killian .Miller, Milhvard, 
Moore, iMcugan, .>b>rrill, Murray, Andrew Oliver, 
I'arker, I'earcc, I'dtiui, I'onningloii, I'eiTy, 
I'etlit, I'ik.-, I'linglc, l'urviane(\ Robl)ins, 
RiibiTts, Itciliisoii, Siibin, .Sage, Sapp, ."^eott, 
Shermnn, Siniiiinim, StantDii, Shaiialiau, Tap- 
nan, TlMM-inglon, Tluirsi.in, T.)dd, Trufton, 
Wade, Wakeman. Walhridge, Wahlron, Cad- 
walader C. Washbiirnc, Klilm B. Wnshburne, 
Israel Wasiibuni, Wiilw.n, W<lili, Whitney, 
Wood, Woodruff, nn<l Wn.uhvi.rth— l(i<). 

NAVS— .Messrs. Aiken, Alhn, Baichiy, Barks- 
dale, Bell. Hendley .S. ISeiinelt, B.xoc'k, Bowie, 
B(iye<', Branch, Brooks, Bunielt, Cadwalaiier, 
.John \\ Campbell, Carlile, Carutliers, Caskie, 
("lingmaii, llowdl Cobb, Williamson K. W. 
Cobb, Cox, Craige. (Jrawford, Davidson, Day, 
l)enver, Dowdcll, Edmundson, Elliot, English, 
Euslis, Faulkner, Florence, Fostc^r, Thomas J. 
1). Fuller, Goode, Greenwood, Augustus Hall, 
J. Morrison Harris, Sampscui W. Harris, Hick- 
man, Hoffman, Houston, .Jewdt, George ^V. 
.Tones, ,T. Glancy Jones, Keitt, Kelly, Keniictt, 
Kidwell, ].,ake, ]>etcher, I.,umpkin,' Alexandet 
K. Marshall, Humphrey Alarslmll, Maxwell, Mc- 
Mullin,.AIe(^iiecii, Smith Miller, Millson, Nichols, 
Mordeeai Oliver, Orr, I'acker, Paine, I'cck, 
Phelps, Porter, Powell, Puryear, Quitman, 
Heady, Kicaud, Kiehardson, Rivers, liuflin, 
Rust, Sandidgo, Savage, Seward, Shorter, Samuel 

A. Smith, William Smith, William R. Smith, 
Sliced, Spinner, Stephens, Stewart, Swope, Tal- 
bott, Taylor, Trippe, Underwood, Valk, Walker, 
Warner, Watkins, Wheeler, Williams, Daniel 

B. Wright, John V. Wright, and ZoUicoffer— 
102. 

Mr. Stephens's substitute, as thus amend- 
ed by its adversaries, was abandoned by its 
original friends, and received but two votes 
— those of Messrs. Geo. G. Dunn of Indiana 
and John Scott Harrison of Ohio — Nays 
210. 

Mr. Dunn had previously movcxl a refer- 
ence of the bill to the Committee of the 
Whole on the state of the Union. This was 
now defeated : Yeas 101 ; Nays 109. 

Mr. Jones of Tenn. now moved that the 
bill do lie on the table, which was defeated : 
Yeas 106 ; Nays 107 (Barclay of Penn., 
Dunn of Ind., Jlaven and AVilliamsof X. Y. 
— Yeas ; Bayard Clarke of New-York, Hick- 
man and Milhvard of I'a., Moore of Ohio, 
and Scott of Ind. — Naijs ; Scott Harrison 
of Ohio not voting, Wells of Wise, absent). 
The House now refused to adjourn by 106 
to 102 ; and, after a long struggle, the liual 
question was reached, and the bill rejected: 
Yeas, 106 ; Nays 10" — as follows : 

YEAS— Messrs. Albright, Allison. Ball. Bar- 
bour, Henry Bennett, Benson, Billintrhurst, 
Bingham, Bishop, Bliss, Bradshaw, I5renton, 
Butlinfon, Burlingame, J. H. Campbell, Lewis 
D. CiunythcW, Bayard Clarke, Ezra Clark, Claw- 
son, Colfax, Comins, Covode, Cragin, Cumbaek, 
Damrell, Timothy Davis, Day, Dean, De Witt, 
Dick, Diekson, Dodd, Durfcc, Edie, Edwards, 
Emrie, Flagler, Galloway, tJiddiiigs, Gilbert, 
(iranger. Grow, Robert IJ. Hall, Harlan, Hick- 
man. Hollowav, Thomas 1{. H(u-ton, V^alentino 
B. Horton, Howard, Hughston, Kelsev, King, 
Knapp, Knight, Knowlton, Knox, Kunkel, Lei- 
ter, Matteson, McCarty, Meacham, Killian .Mil- 
ler, Mtllicard, Moore, Morgan, MoiTiU, Murray, 



148 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



Nichols, Andrew Oliver. Parker, Pearoc, Pclton, 
Pennington, Perry, Pettit, Pike, Purvitinee, 
Robbius, Kiiberts.'lvobison, Sabin, Snge, ISiipp, 
Scolt, Sherman, Simmons, Sj)inner, Stanton, 
Sti-aiiahan,Tappnn,Thorington, Thurston, Todd, 
Trafton,Wade, Wakeman, Walbridge, Waldron, 
Cadwalader C. VVashburno, Elihu B. Wash- 
bunie, Israel Washburn, Watson, Welch, Wood, 
Woodruff, and Woodworth — 106. 

NAYS — Messrs. Aiken, Allen, Barclay, Barks- 
dale, Bell, Heudley S. Bennet, Bocock, Bowie, 
Boyce, Branch, Brooks, Broom, Burnett, Cad- 
walader, John P. Campbell, C'arlile, Caruthers, 
Caskie, Howell Cobb, Williamson K. W. Cobb, 
Cox, Craige, Crawford, Cullen, Davidson, Deji- 
ver, Dowdell, Dunn, Edmundson, Elliot, Eng- 
lish, Etheridge, Eustis, Evans, Faulkner, Flor- 
ence, Foster, Thomas J. D. Fuller, Goode, Green- 
wood, Augustus Hall, J. Morrison Harris, Samp- 
son W. Harris, Harrison, Haren, Herbert, Hotf- 
man, Houston, Jewett, George W. Jones, J. 
Glancy Jones, Keitt, Kelly, Kennett, Kidwell, 
Lake, Letcher, Lindley, Lumpkin, Alexander K. 
Marsliall, Humphrey Marshall, Samuel S. Mar- 
shall, Maxwell, McMullin, McQueen, Smith Mil- 
ler, Millson, Mordecai Oliver, Orr, Packer, 
Paine, Peck, Phelps, Porter, Powell, Puryear, 
Quitman, Ready, Ricaud, Rivers, Ruffin, Rust, 
Sandidge, Savage, Seward, Shorter, Samuel A. 
Smith, William Smith, William R. Smith, Sneed, 
Stephens, Stewart, Swope,Talbott, Taylor,Trippe, 
Underwood, Valk, Walker, Warner, Watkiiis, 
Wheeler, Whitney, Williams, Daniel B. Wright, 
John V. Wright, and Zollicoffer— 107. 

So the bill was lost. 

Mr. Goode of Virginia now sought to 
move a reconsideration, and to have that 
motion laid on the table ; but was cut off by 
a motion to adjourn already pending, which 
prevailed. 

July 1st. — Mr. Barclay (Dera.) of Pa. rose 
to a privileged motion. He moved a recon- 
sideration of the preceding vote, by which 
the Free-Kansas bill had been rejected. A 
stormy debate ensued, in the midst of which 
Mr. Howard of Mich, rose to a question of 
higher privilege (as affecting the right of a 
member [delegate] to his seat) and submitted 
the Report of the Kansas Investigating 
Committee (already given). The Speaker 
sustained the motion, and the House sus- 
tained the Speaker. The Report was there- 
upon presented and read, consuming a full 
day. 

J\dij 3rd. — The question of reconsidering 
the vote defeating the Free-Kansas bill was 
again reached. Mr. Houston of Ala. moved 
that it do lie on the table : Defeated : Yeas 
91 ; Nays 102. The main question was then 
ordered : Yeas 101 ; Nays 98 ; and the re- 
consideration carried : Yeas 101 ; Nays 99. 
The previous question on the passage of the 
bill was now ordered : Yeas 99 ; Nays 96 ; 
a motion by Mr. McQueen of S.C. to lay the 
bill on the table was defeated : Yeas 97 ; 
Nays 100 ; and then the bill was finally 
passed : Yeas 99 ; Nays 97, as follows : 

YEAS— Messrs. Albright, Allison, Ball, Bar- 
bour, Barclay, llern-y Bennett, Benson, Billing- 
hurst, Bingham, Bliss, Bradsliaw, Brenton, Bufhu- 
ton, James 11. Camijbell, Liwis I). Campbell, 
Bayard Clarke, Ezra Clark, Clawson, Collax, 



Comins, Covode, Cragin, Cumback, Damrell, 
Timothy Davis, Day, Dean, Dc Wilt, Dick, 
Dickson, Dodd, Durf'ee, Edie, Edwards, Emrie, 
Flagler, Galloway, Giddings, Gilbert, Granger, 
Grow, Robert B. Hall, Harlan, Hickman, Hollo- 
way, Thomas R. Horton, Valentine B. Horton, 
Howard, Hughston, Kelsey, King, Knapp, 
Knigbt, Knowlton, Knox, Kuukel, Leiter, Matte- 
son, McCarty, Meacham, Killian Miller, Millward, 
Morgan, Morrill, Mott, Murray, Nichols, Andrew 
Oliver, Parker, Pearce, Pelton, Perry, Pike, 
Pringle, Purviance, Ilobbins, Roberts, Robisou, 
Sabin, Sage, Sapp, Scott, Sherman, Spinner, 
Stranahan,Tappan, Thorington,Thur.ston, Todd, 
Trafton, Wade, Wakeman, Walbridge, Waldron, 
Cadwalader C. Washburne, Elihu B. Wash- 
burno, Israel Washburn, Welch, Woodrufll'. and 
Woodworth— 99. 

NAYS — Messrs. Aiken, Allen, Barksdale, Bell, 
Hendley S. Bennett, Bocock, Bowie, Branch, 
Brooks, Broom, Burnett, Cadwalader, Caruthers, 
Caskie, Clingman, Howell Cobb, Williamson R. 
W. Cobb, Cox, Craige, Crawford, Cullen, Henry 
Winter Davis, Denver, Dowdell, Dunn, Ed- 
mundson, English, Etheridge, Eustis, Evans, 
Faulkner, Florence, Henry M. Fuller, Thos. J 
D. Fuller, Goode, Greenwood, Augustus HaU, J 
Morrison Harris, Sampson W. Harris, Thomas 
L. Harris, Harrison, Haven, Houston, Jewett, 
George W. Jones, J. Glancy Jones, Kelly, Ken- 
nett, Kidwell, Lake, Lindley, Lumpkin, Alex 
ander K. Marshall, Humphrey Marshall, Sa 
muel S. Marshall, McMullin, McQueen, Smith 
Miller, Milson, Mordecai Oliver, Orr, Packer, 
Peck, Phelps, Porter. Powell, Puryear, Ready, 
Ricaud, Rivers, Ruffin, Rust, Sandidge, Savage, 
Seward, Shorter, Samuel A. Smith, William 
Smith, William R. Smith, Sneed, Stephens, Stew- 
art, Swope, Taylor, Trippe, Underwood, Valk, 
Walker, Warner, Watkins, Wheeler, Whitney, 
Williams, Winslow, Daniel B. Wright, John V 
Wright, and Zollicoffer— 97. 

Mr. Grow of Pa. moved the reconsidera- 
tion of this vote, and that the motion to re- 
consider do lie on the table, which was per- 
mitted, without further division. 



The following is the Free-Kansas or 
Topeka Constitution aforesaid : 

CONSTITUTION 
OP THE STATE OF KANSAS. 

PREAMBLE : 

We, the People of the Territory of Kansas, by 
our delegates in Convention assembled at Tope- . 

ka, ou the 2'3d day of October, a. d. 1855, and 
of the Independence of the United States the 
eightieth year, having the right of admission into 
the Union as one of the United States of America, 
consistent with the Federal Constitution and by 
virtue of the treaty of cession by France to the 
United States of the Province of Louisiana, in 
order to secure to ourselves and our posterity 
the enjoyment of all the rights of life, liberty and 
property, and the free pursuit of happiness, do 
mutually agree with each other to form ourselves 
into a free and independent State, by the name 
and style of the State ok Kansas, bounded as 
follows, to wit: Beginning at a point ou the 
western boundary of the State of Missouri where 
the thu-ty-seveuth parallel of north latitude 
crosses the same ; thence west on said parallel 
to the eastern boundary of New-Mexico ; thence 
north on said boundary to latitude thirty-eight ; 
thence following said boundtiry westward to the 
eastern boundary of the Territory of Utah on 
the summit of the Rocky Mountains ; thence 
northward on said summit" to the fortieth parallel 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



149 



of Bnid liititiulo; thoncc oast on Miiid imnillcl to 
the western Ixmudiiry of tlio Stiito of MiNHoiiri ; 
thence bouIIi witli the western boundary uf Hiiid 
State to the (ilaeo of bef,'iniiint,' ; and do ordiiin 
and e.stiiljlish the foUowinf: Constitution aud 
Bill ok Kiuuts Ibr the govenunent tlieruof : 

Article I. — Bill of Rights 

Section 1. All men nro by nature free and 
independent, and liavo certain iiialienal)le riglitu, 
amontj which are those of enjoj'inj,' nnd defending; 
life and liberty, ueqiiir'mg, poSBCBsinfj, and jjro- 
toeting property, and seeking and obtaining 
hnpi)ineKs and safety. 

Skc. 2. All political power is inherent in the 
I'eoi'lk. tJovernnunt is instituted for their 
etpial protection and benetit ; and they have the 
right to alter, relbrni or abolish the same when- 
ever they may deem it necessary ; and no si)ceitil 
privileges or nnmunities shall over bo granted 
that may not be altered, revoked, or repealed by 
the General Assembly. 

Sec. 'A. The people have the right to assemble 
together, in a peaceable manner, to consult, for 
their connnon good, to instruct their Represent- 
atives, and to petition the General Assembly 
for the redress ol grievances. 

Sec. 4. The people have the right to bear anns 
for their defense and security, but standing ar- 
mies in time of peace are dangerous to liber- 
ty, and shall not be kept up; and the military 
enall be kept in strict subordiuatiou to the civ;l 
power. 

Sec. 5. The right of trial by jury shall bo in- 
violate. 

Sec. 6 There shall be no Slavery in this State, 
nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punish- 
ment of crime. 

Sec. 7. All men have a natural and indefeasi- 
ble right to worship Almighty God according to 
the dictates of their own conscience. No person 
shall be compelled to attend, erect or .support 
any place of worship, or maintain any form of 
worship against his consent ; and no preference 
shall be given by law to any religious society ; 
nor shall any interference with the rights of 
ccuscience be permitted. No religious test shall 
be required as a qualification for otHce, nor shall 
any person be incompetent to be a witness on ac- 
count of his religious belief; but nothihg herein 
shall be construed to dispense with oaths and 
affinnations. Religion, morality, and knowledge, 
however, being essential to good government, it 
shall be the duty of the General Assembly to 
pass suitable laws to protect every religious de- 
nomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its 
own mode of public worship, and to eucoui'age 
schools and the means of instruction. 

Sec. 8. The privilege of the writ of habeas 
corpus shall not De suspended, unless in case of 
rebellion or invasion the public safety require it. 

Sec. y. All persons shall be bailable by sufli- 
cieat sureties, unless for capital offenses where 
the proof is evident, or the presumption great. 
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor exces- 
sive fines imposed, nor cruel aud unusual pun- 
ishments inflieted. 

Sec. 1(1. Except in cases of impeachment, and 
cases arising in the army and navy, or in the 
militia, when in actual service, in time of war 
or public danger, and in cases of petit larceny 
and other inferior offenses, no person shall be 
held to answer for a capital or otherwise infa- 
mous crime, unless on presentment or indictment 
of a Grand Jury. Inany trial, in any court, the 
party accused shall be allowed to appear and 
defend in person, and with counsel, to demand 
the nature and cau^^e of the accusation against 
him, and to have a copy thereof: to meet the 
witnesses faie to face, and to have compulsory 
process to procure the attendance of witnesses 



in his belialf, and a speedy public trial by an im- 
partial jury of the county'or district in which the 
otVc^nse is alleged to have been committed ; nor 
shall any pei-son be compelled in any criminal 
case to be a witness against himself, or be twice 
put in jeopnrdy for the Kanie nll'eiise. 

Sec. 1 1. lOvery citizen may fretdy siionk, write 
and ])i\lilish his sentiments on all subieetH, being 
responsible for the abuse of the right ; and no 
law shall be passed t<i restrain or abridge the 
liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal 
l)roseeutions or indictmenls tor libel, the truth 
may be given in evi<lrnce to the jury, and if it 
shall appear to the jury that the malt<>r iharged 
aa libelous is true, and was published with good 
motives, and for justifiable ends, the party shall 
be acquitted. 

Sec. Vi. No person shall be tranKi)ort<Ml out of 
th(! State for any ofi'ense connnitted within the 
same ; and no conviction shall work corruption 
of blood or forfeiture of estate. 

Sec. in. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be 
quartered in any house without the consent of 
the owner ; nor in time of war, except in a man- 
ner prescribed by law. 

Sec. 14. The right of the people to be secure in 
their persons, house.-*, ])a{)ers, and possessions, 
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall 
not be violated: an<l no warrant shall i.-sue but 
upon probable eausi', supported by oath or af- 
firmation, particularly describing "the place to 
be searched, and the persons and things to be 
seized. 

Sec. 15. No person shall be imprisoned for 
debt in any civil action, or mesne or final pro- 
cess, unless in ease of fraud. 

Sec. l(j. All courts shall be open ; and every 
person for an injury done him in his land, goods, 
person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due 
course of law, and justice administered without 
denial or delay. 

Sec. 17. No hereditary emoluments, honors, or 
privileges, shall ever be grunted or conferred by 
this State. 

Sec. 18. No power of suspending laws shall 
ever be exercised, except by the General Assem- 
bly. 

Sec. 19. The payment of a tax shall not be 
a qualification for exercising the right of suf- 
frage. 

Sec. 20. Private property shall ever be held 
inviolate, but subservient to the public welfare. 
When taken in time of war, or other public exi- 
gency, imperatively requiring its immediate 
seizure, or for the inirpose of making or repair- 
ing roads, which shall be open to the public use, 
without toll or other charge therefor, a compen- 
sation shall be made to the owner in money ; and 
in all other cases, where private property shall 
be taken for public use. a compensation there- 
for shall first be made in money, first secured bv 
a deposit of money, and such compensation sluill 
bo us^sessed by a jury, without deduction for 
benefits to any property of the owner. 

Sec. 21. No indenture of any negro, or mulat- 
to, made and executed out of "the bounds of the 
State, shall be valid within the State. 

Sec. 22. This enumeration of rights shall not 
be construed to impair or deny others retained 
by the people ; ami all {)owers not herein dele- 
gated shall remain with the people. 

Article II. — Elective Fra.nchise. 

Section 1. In all elections by the people, the 
vote shall be by ballot, and in all elections in 
the General Assembly, the vote shall be viva 
voce. 

Sec. 2. Every white male person, and every 
civilized male Indian who has adopted the hab- 
its of the white man, of the age uf twenty-one 
years aud upward, who shall be at the lime of 



150 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



oEFering to vote a citizen of the United States ; 
who shall have resided, and had his habitation, 
domicile, home, and place of permanent abode in 
the State of Kansas for six months next preced- 
ing the election at which he offers his vole ; who, 
at such time, and for thirty days immediately 
preceding said time, shall have had his actual 
habitation, domicile, home, and place of abode in 
the county in wliich he offers to vote ; and who 
shall have resided in the precinct or election- 
district for at least ten days immediately preced- 
ing the election, shall be deemed a qualified elec- 
tor at all elections under this Constitution, 
except at elections by general ticket in the State 
or district prescribed by law, in which case the 
elector must have the aforesaid qualifications, 
but a residence in said district for ten days will 
entitle him to vote : Provided, That no soldier, 
seaman, or marine of the regular army of the 
United Stales shall be considered a resident of 
the State in consequence of being stationed with- 
in the same. 

Sec. 3. The General Assembly shall, at its first 
session, provide for the registration of all quali- 
fied electors in each county, and thereafter, from 
time to time, of all who may become qualified 
electors. 

Sec. 4. The Legislature shall have power to 
exclude fi"om every office of honor, trust or profit 
within the State, and from the right of suf- 
frage, all persons convicted of any infamous 
crime. 

Sec. 5. No person shall be deemed capable of 
holding or being elected to any post of honor, 
profit, trust, or emolument, civil or military, or 
exercise the right of suflrage under the govern- 
ment of this State, who shall hereafter fight a 
duel, send or accept a challenge to fight a duel, 
or who shall be a second to either party, or who 
shall in any manner aid or assist in such duel, or 
who shall bo knowingly the bearer of such chal- 
lenge or acceptance, whether the same occur or 
be committed in or out of the State. 

Sec 5. No person who may hereafter be col- 
lector or holder of public moneys shall be eligi- 
ble to any office of trust or profit in the State 
untd he shall have accounted for and paid into 
the proper public treasury all sums for which he 
may be accountable. 

Sec. 7. No State officer or member of the 
General Assembly of this State shall receive a 
fee, be engaged as counsel, agent, or attorney, in 
any case or claim against the State. 

Sec. 8. No Senator or Itepresentative shall, 
during the term of office for which he shall have 
been elected, be appointed to any civil office of 
profit in this State which shall have been created, 
or the emoluments of which shall have been in- 
creased during such term, except such offices as 
may be filled by election by the people. 

Sec 9. All officers, civil and military, in this 
State, before they enter upon the duties of their 
respective offices, shall take the following oath 

or affirmation : " I , do swear [or 

aflirni] that I will support the Constitution of the 
United States, and of the State of Kansas ; that I 
am duly qualified according to the Constitution 
to exercise the office to which I have been elect- 
ed, [or appointed,] and will, to the best of my 
abilities, discharge the duties thereof faithfully 
and impartially, according to law." 

Sec 10. Every person shall be disqualified 
from holding any office of honor or profit in this 
State, who sliall have been convicted of having 
given or oll'ercd any bribe to procure his elec- 
tron, or who ishuU have made use of any undue 
influence from power, tumult, or other improper 
practices. 

Sec. 11. All civil officers of the State shall 
reside within the State, and all District and 
County officers within their respective Districts 



and Counties, and shall have their offices at such 
places as may be required by law. 

Sec 12. Returns of elections for members of 
Congress, the General Assembly, and all other 
officers not otherwise provided for, shall be made 
to the Secretary of State, in such manner as may 
be proscribed by law. 

Sec 13. Electors shall in all cases be privi- 
leged from arrest during their attendance on 
elections, and in goin^ to and returning there- 
from, exceptin case of felony, treason, and breach 
of the peace. 

Article III. — ^Distribution of Powers. 

Section 1. The powers of the Government 
shall be divided into three separate departments 
— the Legislative, the Executive, including the 
Administrative, and the Judicial ; and no per- 
son charged with ofiicial duties under one of 
these departments shall exercise any of the 
functions of another, except as in this Constitu- 
tion expressly provided. 

Article IV. — Legislative. 

Section 1. The Legislative power of this 
State shall be vested in the General Assembly, 
which shall consist of a Senate and House of 
Representatives. 

Sec 2. The Senators and Representatives 
shall be chosen annually by the qualified elect- 
ors of the respective Counties or Districts for 
which they are chosen, on the first Monday of 
August, for one year, and their term of office 
shall commence on the first day of January nest 
thereafter. 

Sec 3. There shall be elected at the first elec- 
tion twenty Senators, and sixty Representatives, 
and the number afterward shall be regulated by 
law. 

Sec 4. No person shall be eligible to the 
office of Senator, or Representative, who shall 
not possess the qualifications of an elector. 

Skc 5. No person holding office under the au- 
thority of the United States, or any lucrative 
office under the authority of this State, shall be 
eligible to or hold a seat in the General Assem- 
bly ; but this provision shall not extend to town- 
ship officers, justices of the peace, notaries pub- 
lic, postnjasters, or officers of the militia. 

Sec 6. Each House, except as otherwise pro- 
vided in this Constitution, shall choose its own 
officers, determine its own rule of proceeding, 
punish its members for disorderly conduct, and 
with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a mem- 
ber, but not the second time for the same cause ; 
and shall judge of the qualification, election and 
return of its own members, and shall have all 
other powers necessary for its safety and the un- 
disturbed transaction of business. 

Sec 7. Each House shall keep a journal of its 
proceedings and publish the same. The Yeas 
and Nays on any question shall, at the request 
of two members, be entered on the journal. 

Sec 8. Any member of either House shall 
have the right to protest against any act or reso- 
lution thereof; and such protest and reason 
therefor shall, without alteration, commitment 
or delay, be entered on the journal. 

Sec 9. All vacancies which may occur in 
either House shall, for the unexpired tenn, be 
filled by election as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec 10. Senators and Representatives shall, 
in all cases except treason, felony cr breach of 
the peace, be privileged from arrest during the 
session of the General As.-^einbly, and in going 
to and returning from the same ; and for words 
spoken in debate they shall not be questioned in 
any other place. 

Sec. 11. A majority of all the members elected 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



161 



to eachllouso shall bonccoBsnry to pnss every bill 
or joint r<-8olntion, and nil billH and joint rt-Bo- 
lutions 8o piLsstd kIkiII hf Bit,MR-(l by the |)rf«id- 
iii}; oiliooin of tho rcxixvlivu Houhis, unci prc- 
senttd to tlif Governor lor Iiih ajiproval. 

Skc. 1','. Tho dooi-s of eai'li IIou.mo, and of 
Comniittcos of tho Wiiolc. shall be kopt open. 
Ni-itlitr House shall, without tlic <'(Uis.iit of llu^ 
other, adjourn for more than two day«, nor to 
any otht-r place than that in which tho two 
Houses shall bo sitting, except for personal 
safety. , , 

Skc. 13. Every bill shall be read by sections 
on thrco several days in each House unless in 
case of cnicrtjeucy. Two-thinls of the House 
where such bill is pcndinf,', may. if deemed expe- 
dient, suspend the rules on neall of the Yeas and 
Is'ays ; but the readin;^ of a bill by sections on its 
final passage shall in no case be dispensed 
witli ; and the vote on the passaj;c of every bill 
or joiut resolution shall be taken by Yeas and 
Nays. 

Skc. 14. Every net shall contain but one sub- 
ject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. 
Bills may ori^'inato in either House, but nuiy be 
altered, amended, or rejected by the other. 

Sec. 15. In all cases wben a general law can 
be made applicable, special laws shall not be 
enacted. 

Sec. 1G. No act shall ever bo revived or 
amended by mere reference to its title ; but the 
act revived, or the section amended, shall beset 
forth and published at full length. 

Sec. 17. No act shall tukoellcct until tho same 
shall have been published and circulated in the 
counties of the State by authority, except in 
case of emergency, whicli emergency shall be 
declared in the preamble, or the body of the 
law. 

Sec. 18. The election and appointment of all 
oflicers, and the filling of all vueaiicies not other- 
wise provided for by this Constitution, or tho 
Constitution of the United States, shall be made 
in such manner as shall be prescribed bylaw; 
but no appointing power shall be exercised by 
the General Assembly, except as provided in this 
Constitution and in the electiou of tho United 
States Senator, and in these cases the vote shall 
be taken viva voce. 

Sec. 19. The General Assembly shall not have 
power to enact laws aniiullin<j the contract of 
marriage in any case where by law the courts 
of this State may have power to decree a di- 
vorce. 

Sec. 20. The General Assembly shall not have 
power to pass retro-active laws, or laws impair- 
ing the obligation of contracts, but may by 
general laws authorize Courts to carry into effect, 
upon such terms as shall be just and equitable, 
the manifest intention of parties and officers, 
by curing omissions, defects, and eiTois in instru- 
ments, and proceedings arising out of a want of 
conformity with the laws of this State. 

Sec. 21. The style of tho laws of this State 
shall be : " Be it ennclcd hy the General Assem- 
bly of the State of Kansas." 

Sec. 22. The House of Representatives shall 
have the sole power of impeachment. All im- 
peachments shall be tried by the Senate, and 
when sitting for the purpose, the Senators shall 
be upou oath or affirmation to do justice ac- 
cording to law and evidence. No person shall be 
convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds 
of all the Senators present. 

Sec. 23. The Governor and all other civil offi- 
cers, under the laws of this State, shall be liable 
to impeachnieut for any misdeiueaii<jr in oflicc, but 
judgment in such cases shall not extend further 
than to removal from office, and disqualification 
to hold any office of honor, profit, or trust, under 
this State, The party, wnother convicted or 



acquitted, shall nevertheless bo liable to indict- 
ment, trial, judgment and punishment, according 
to law. 

Sk<;. 21. Within one year nftor flic ratification 
of this Constitution, and within every subse- 
quent two years thereafter, for the term of ton 
years, an enumeration of nil the whiteiiiliabitants 
of this Stiile sliiill be made in such manner as 
shall be dinct( d by law. 

Sec, 25. All re^'ubir sessions ctf tho General 
Assembly shall be held at the capital of the 
State, and shall commence on the firs tTuesday 
of January annually. 

Sec. 2t). All bills for raising revenue shall origi- 
nate in the House of liepresontatives, subject, 
however, to amendment or rejection as in other 
cases. 

Sec. 27. The members of the (Jeneral Assem- 
bly shall receive for their services tho sum of 
four dollars per day for each and every day they 
are actually in attendance at any regular or 
special session, and four dollars for every 
twenty miles they shall travel in going to and 
returning from the place of meeting by the most 
usually travehd route; and no session of tho 
General Assembly, except the first under this 
Constitution, shall extend beyond the term of 
sixty days, nor any special session more than 
forty days. 

Ar-TicLE V. — Executive. 

Section 1. The Executive Department shall 
consist of a Governor, a Lieutenant-Governor, 
Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, and At- 
torney-General, wlio shall be chosen by tho 
electors of the State at the same time and place 
of voting for the members of the General Assem- 
bly. ^ 

Sec. 2. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, 
Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney- 
General, and State Printer, shall hold their otfice 
for two years. Their terms of office shall com- 
mence on the first Tuesday of January next after 
their election, and continue until their succes- 
sors are elected and qualified, neither of which 
officers shall he eligible for reelection more than 
two out of three consecutive terms : nor shall any 
person be eligible for the office of Governor who 
who shall not have attained the age of thu-ty 
years. 

Sec. 3. The returns of every election for the 
officers named in tho foregoing section, shall be 
sealed up and transmitted to the seat of govern- 
ment by the returning-officers, directed to the 
Secretary of State, who shall lay tho same beforo 
the General Assembly at their first meeting 
thereafter, when they shall open, publish and de- 
clare the result thereof in the presence of a ma- 
jority of the members of both llouscs. The per- 
son having the highest number of votes shall be 
declared duly elected, and a certificate thereof 
given to such person, signed by the presiding 
officers of both bodies ; but if any two or moro 
shall be highest and equal in votes for the same 
office, one of them shall bo chosen by the joint 
vote of both Houses. 

Sec. 4. The supremo executive power shall be 
vested in a Governor. 

Sec. 5. Ho may require information in writing 
from the officers in the Executive Department 
upon any subject relating to the duties of their 
respective offices, and shall see that the laws are 
faithfully executed. 

Sec. 6. He shall communicate at every session, 
by message, to the General Assembly, the condi- 
tion of the affairs of the Slate, and recommend 
such measures as ho shall deem expedient for 
their action. 

Sec. 7. lie may on extroordinary occasions 
convene the Gcnerol Assembly by proclamation, 



152 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



and shall state to both Houses when assembled 
the purposes for which they were convened. 

Sec. 8. In case of disagreement belwecn the 
two Houses, in respect to the time of adjourn- 
ment, he shall have power to adjourn the Gene- 
ral As.-^euibly to such time as he may think 
proper, but not beyond the regular meetings 
thereof. 

Sec. 9. lie shall be commander-in chief of llie 
military in the State, except when they shall be 
called info the service of the United States. 

Sec 10 The pardoning power shall be vested 
in the Governor, under such regulalicms and re- 
etrictions as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 11. There shall be a seal of the State, the 
device ot which shall be fixed upon by the Gov- 
ernor and other State otficers, be kept by the 
Governor and used by him oflicially, and shall 
be called "7'Ae Great Seal of the State of Kan- 
sas." 

Sec. 12. All grants and commissions shall be 
used in the name and by the authority of the 
State of Kansas, sealed with the great seal, sign- 
ed by the Governor, and countersigned by the 
Secretarj- of State. 

Sec. 13. No member of either House of Con- 
gress, or other persons holding office under the 
authority of this State, or of the United States, 
shall execute the otfice of Governor except as 
herein provided. 

Sec. 14. lu the case of death, impeachment, 
resignation, removal, or other disability of the 
Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor shall exer- 
cise the duties of the office of Governor, until 
another Governor shall be duly qualitied ; but in 
such case another Governor shall be chosen at 
the next annual election for members of the 
General Assembly, unless such death, resigna- 
tion, impeachment, removal, or other disability 
shall occur within three calendar months imme- 
diately preceding such next annual election, in 
which case a Governor shall be chosen at the 
second succeeding annual election for members 
of the General Assembly, and in case of the 
death, impeachment, resignation, removal, or 
other disability of the Lieutenant-Governor, the 
President of the Senate pro tern, shall exercise 
the office of Governor until a Governor shall be 
duly qualified as aforesaid. 

Sec 15. Tlie Lieut.-Governor shall be Presi- 
dent of the Senate, but shall vote only when the 
Senate is equally divided, and shall be entitled 
to the same pay as the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, and in case of his death, im- 
peachment, resignation, removal from office, or 
when he shall exercise the office of Governor, 
the Senate shall choose a President pro tern. 

Sec 16. Should the office of Secretary of State, 
Treasurer, Auditor, or Attorney-General become 
vacant, for any of the causes specified in the 
fourteenth and fifteenth sections, the Governor 
shall fill the vacancy or vacancies imtil the disa- 
bility is removed or a successor is elected and 
qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled 
by election, at the first general election that oc- 
curs more than thirty days after such vacancy 
shall have occurred, and the person chosen shall 
hold the office for the full term fixed in the sec- 
ond section of this article. 

Sec 17. The officers mentioned in this ai-ticle 
shall, at stated times, receive for their services 
compensation to be fixed by law, which shall 
neither be increased nor diminished during the 
period for which they shall have been elected. 

Sec 18. The officers of the Executive Depart- 
ment, and of the public State Institutions snail, 
at least ten days preceding each regular session 
of the General Assembly, severally report to the 
Governor, who shall transmit the same to the 
General Assembly. 

Sec. I'J. Every bill which shall have passed 



both Houses shall be presented to the Governor. 
If he approve he shall sign the same ; but if he 
shall not approve, he shall return it with his ob- 
jections to the House in which it shall have 
originated, who shall enter the objections at large 
upon the journal, and proceed to reconsider the 
same. If after such reconsideration two-thirds 
of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall 
be sent, with the objections, to the other House, 
by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered, and 
if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall 
be a law. But in such case the votes of both 
Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, 
and the names of the persons voting for or against 
the bill shall be entered upon the journals of the 
House respectively. If any bill shall not be re- 
turned by the Governor within five days (Sunday 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to 
him, it shall be a law in like manner as if he had 
siynid i(, unless the General Assembly, by theu" 
adjournment, prevented its return, in which case 
it shall also be a law, unless sent back within 
two days after the next meeting. 

Sec 20. Contested elections for Governor, 
Lieutenant Governor, Judges of the Supremo 
Court, and all other State officers, shall be deter- 
mined by the General Assembly in such man- 
ner as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec 21. The General Assembly shall have 
power to provide by law for the election of a 
Surveyor-General, State Geologist, and Superin- 
tendent of Common Schools, whose duties shall 
be prescribed by law. 

Article VI. — Judicial. 

Section 1. The Judicial power of the State 
.shall be vested in a Supreme Court, Courts of 
Common Pleas, Justices of the Peace, and in 
such other Courts inferior to the Supreme Court 
as the General Assembly may establish. 

Sec. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of 
three Judges, a majority of whom shall form a 
quorum. It shall have such original and appel- 
late jurisdiction as may be provided by law. It 
shall hold at least one term each year at the seat 
of Government, and such other Terms as may 
be provided by law. The Judges of the Su- 
preme Court shall be elected by the electors of 
the Stale at large. 

Sec 3. The State shall be divided by the first 
General Assembly under this Constitution into 
three Common Pleas Districts of compact Terri- 
tory, bounded by county lines, and as nearly 
equal in population as practicable; and a Judge 
for each District shall be chosen by the electors 
thereof, and their term of office shall be for three 
years. 

Sec 4. The Courts of Common Pleas shall 
consist of one Judge each, who shall reside with- 
in the district for which he is chosen during his 
continuance in office. 

Sec 5. The jurisdiction of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas and of the Judges thereof shall be 
fixed by law. 

Sec 6. A competent number of Justices of the 
Peace shall be elected by the electors in each 
township of several counties. The term of office 
shall be three years, and their powers and duties 
shall be fixed by law. 

Sec 7. All Judges, other than those provided 
for in the Constitution, shall be elected by the 
electors of the judicial district for which they 
may be created, but not for a longer term of 
office than three years. 

Sec 8. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall, 
immediately after the first election under this 
Constitution, bo classified by lot, so that one shall 
hold for the term of one year, one for the teiin 
of three years ; and all subsequent elections the 
term of each of said Judges shall bo for three 
years. 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



153 



Sec. 9. In cnao the office of any Judgo shall 
become vnciint beforo tlio expirntion of tlio tcnn 
fur wliicli 111' was fleeted, tliLi viieniiey cimll In- 
filled l)y iiiiiioiiitiiieut by the (!(>voriii>r, until a 
sucees.sdr bliiill In- elected niid (|ualitied ; niul 
Hiicli (^ueccistiiir shall be elected for the renidue 
of the uiiexpircil term, at the (iisl niinual flection 
that occurs mere tlian thirty days after Buch 
vu(!ancy .-hall have happened. 

Sv.c. 10. The .Juilj^cH of the Snprcmo Court 
and of tlie Court of Common Pleas shall, at stat- 
ed times, receive such com]ieiiKaliou as maybe 
provided by law, which shall not be increased 
or dinnuish'ed durinfj their term of office ; but 
they sh;ill receive no fees or j)cr(|uisites, nor hold 
any oilier ollice of prolit and trust under the State, 
other than a judicial oflice. 

.Skc. II. Tlie General Assembly may increase 
or diminish the number of the Judfjjos of tlie 
Supremo Court, the number of the districts of 
the Courts of Common Pleas, the number of 
Jud«;es in any district, or establish other courts, 
whenever two-thirds of the members elected to 
each House shall concur therein ; but no such 
cbanffe, addition, or diminution shall vacate the 
office of anv .ludjje. 

Skc. I'J. 'l''liere shall be elected in each county, 
by the eleeloi-8 thereof, one Clerk of the Court 
of Common Pleas, who shall hold his office for the 
term of three years, and until his successor shall 
be electtd ami (lualitied. 

Skc. 1:{. The CencriU Assembly shall provide 
by law for the speedy publication of the decis- 
ions of the Supremo Court made under this Con- 
stitution. 

Skc. 14. The Supreme Court shall, upon the 
decision of every case, give an opinion in writ- 
ing of each question arising in the record in such 
ca.se and the dicisiou of the Court thereon. 

Skc. 15. There shall be elected by the voters 
of the State a Clerk and a Keporter for the Su- 
preme Court, who shall hold their offices for 
three years, and whose duties shall be pre- 
scribed by law. 

Skc lU. Judges may be removed from office 
by concurrent resolution of both Houses of the 
General Ai-sembly, if two-thirds of the members 
elected to each House concur therein ; but no 
such removal shall be made except upon com- 
plaint, the substance of which shall be entered 
upon the journal, nor until the party thereof 
charged sliall have had notice thereof, and an 
opportunity to be heard. 

Sec. 17. The several Judges of the Supreme 
Court, of the Court of Common Pleas, and of 
such other courts as may be created by law, 
shall respectively have and exercise such power 
and jurisdiction, at chambers or otherwise, as 
may be provided by law. 

Skc. 18. The style of all process shall be "The 
State of Kansas." All prosecutions shall be car- 
ried on in the name and by the authority of the 
State of Kansas, and all indictments shall con- 
clude " Against the peace and dignity of the 
State of Kansas."' 

Articlk VII. — Edi'catio.v. 

Skction 1. The principal of all funds arising 
from the sale or other disposition of lands or 
other in-operty granted or intrusted to this State 
for educational and religious purposes, shall for- 
ever be preserved inviolate and undiminished, 
and the income arising therefrom shall be faith- 
fully applied to the specilic objects of the origi- 
nal grants or appropriations. 

Sec 2. The General Assembly shall make 
such provision, by taxation or otherwise, as, with 
the income arising from the school-trust fund, 
will secure a thorough and efficient system of 
conimou schools throughout the Stale ; but no 
religious or other sect or sects shall ever have 



any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of 
th<- school funds of this State. 

Skc. '.i. 'l"he (Jc'iicral AsHembly may fake meas- 
ures for the establishment of a ITniversity, with 
such brandies as the jiublic cimvcnience may 
hereafter deinaiul, for the promotion of literature, 
the arts, sciences, medical and agricultural in- 
struction. 

Skc. 4. Provision may bo made by the law 
for the support of normal schools, with suitable 
libraries and scienlilic ajiparatus. 

Article VIII.— Public Institutio.ss. 

Sectio.n 1. It shall be the duty of the General 
Assembly, at as early a date as possible, to pro- 
vide Slate Asylums for tlie benefit, tnatmont 
and instruction of the blind, deaf and dumb, and 
insane. 

Skc. 2. The General Assembly shall make pro- 
vision for the establishment of an Asylum for 
idiots, to be regulated by law. 

Skc 3. The respective counties of the State 
shall provide in some suitable manner for those 
inhabitants who, by reason of age, infirmity or 
other misfortune, iiiay have claims upon the 
sympathy and aid of society ; under provis- 
ions to be made by the laws of the General As- 
sembly. 

Sec 4. The General Assembly shall make 
provision for the establishmeut of houses of re- 
fuge for the correction, reform, and instruction of 
juvenile oftcnders. 

Skc 5. It shall be the duty of the General As- 
sembly to make provisions as soon as possible 
for a State General Hospital. 

Article IX. — Public Debt and Public 
Works. 

Section 1. No money shall be paid out of the 
treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation 
by law. 

Sec. 2. The credit of the State shall never bo 
given or loaned in aid of any individual associa- 
tion or corporation. 

Sec 3. For the purpose of defraying extraor- 
dinary expenditures, the State may contract pub- 
lic debts, out such debts shall never in the aggre- 
gate exceed one hundred thousand dollars, unless 
authorized by a direct vote of the people at a 
general election. Every such debt shall bo au- 
thorized by law, and every such law shall pro- 
vide for the payment of the annual interest of 
such debt, and the principal within ten years 
from the passage of such law, and such appro- 
priation shall not be repealed until the principal 
and interest shall have been wholly paia. 

Skc 4. The Legislature may also borrow 
money to repel invasion, suppress insuiTection, 
or defend the State in time of war ; but tlie money 
thus raised shall be applied exclusively to the 
object for which the loan was authorized, or re- 
payment of the debts thereby created. 

Skc 5. No scrip, ccvtiticate, or other evidence 
of State debt whatever, shall bo issued, except 
for such debts as are authorized by the third 
and fourth sections of this article. 

Article X. — Militia. 

Section 1. Themilitiashallconsistof all able- 
bodied white male persons between the ages of 
eighteen and forty years : except such as may 
be exempt by the laws of the United States or 
of this State, and shall be organized, officered, 
armed, equipped, and trained in such mauner as 
may be provided by law. 

Skc 2. The Governor shall appoint the Adju- 
tant, Quartermaster and Commissary Gene- 
rals. 

S£C. 3. All militia officers shall bo commia- 



154 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



Bioned by the Governor and shall hold then- 
offices not longer than three years. 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall determine 
the method of dividing the militia into divisions, 
brigades, regiments, battalions and companies, 
and fix the rank of all oificers. 

Sec. 5. The militia may be divided into 
classes, in such manner as shall be prescribed 
by law. 

Sec. 6. No person conscientiously opposed to 
bearing arms shall be compelled to do militia 
duty ; Dut such person shall pay an equivalent 
for such exemption, the amount to be prescribed 
by law. 

Sec. 7. The first General Assembly shall offer 
inducements for the formation, uniforming and 
di-illing of independent volunteer companies in 
the different cities and counties in this State. 

Article XI. — Finance and Taxation. 

Section 1. The General Assembly shall pro- 
vide, by law, for uniform and equal rate of as- 
sessment and taxation; and taxes shall be levied 
upon all such property, real and personal, as the 
General Assembly may, from time to time, pre- 
scribe ; but all property appropriated and used 
exclusively for municipal, literary, educational, 
scientific or charitable purposes, and personal 
property to an amount not exceeding one hun- 
dred dollars, for each head of a family, and all 
property appropriated and used exclusively for 
religious purposes to an amount not exceeding 
$200,000, may, by general laws, be exempted from 
taxation. 

Sec. 2. The General Assembly shall provide 
by law for an annual tax sufficient to defray the 
estimated ordinary expenses of the State for each 
year. 

Sec. 3. Every law imposing a tax shall state 
distinctly the object of the same, to which it shall 
be applied. 

Sec. 4. On the passage, in either House of the 
General Assembly, of any law which imposes, 
continues or renews a tax ; or makes, continues 
or renews an appropriation of public or trust 
money ; or releases, discharges or commutes a 
claim or demand of the State, the question shall 
be taken by Yeas and Nays, which shall be duly 
entered on the journal ; and three-fifths of all the 
members elected to such House shall, in all such 
cases, be required to constitute a quorum. 

Article XII. — County and Township offi- 
cers. 

Section 1. The General Assembly shall pro- 
vide by law for the election of county, city, town 
and township officers. 

Sec. 2. All officers whose election or appoint- 
ment is not provided for by this Constitution 
shall be elected by the people, or appointed as 
the General Assembly may by law direct. 

Sec. 3. Provision shall be made by law for the 
removal, for misconduct or malversation in office, 
of all officers whose powers and duties are not 
local or legislative, and who shall be elected at 
general elections, and also for supplying vacan- 
cies created by such removal. 

Sec. 4. The Legislature may declare the cases 
in which any oflice shall be deemed vacant, 
where no provision is made for that purpose in 
this Constitution. 

Article XIII. — Corporation. 

Section 1. The General Assembly shall not 
create corporations by special act, except for 
municipal purposes. 

Sec. 2. Corporations may be formed under 
general laws, but such laws may at any time be 
altered or repealed. 



Article XIV. — Jurisprudence. 

Section 1. The General Assembly, at its first 
session, shall constitute three Commissioners, 
whose duty it shall be to revise, reform, simplify 
and abridge the rules of practice, pleadings, 
tonus and proceed'mgs of the Courts of Record 
of this State, and to provide, so far as practica- 
ble and expedient, that justice shall be adminis- 
tered by intelligent and uniform proceedings, 
without any distinction between law and equity. 

Sec. 2. The proceedings of the Commissioners 
shall be reported to the General Assembly, and 
be subject to the action of that body. 

Article XV. — Miscellaneous. 

Section 1. The first General Assembly shall 
locate the permanent seat of government. 

Sec. 2. Lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets 
for any purpose whatever, shall forever be pro- 
hibited in the State. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be elected or appoint- 
ed to any office in this State unless they possess 
the qualifications of an elector. 

Sec. 4. There may be established in the Secre- 
tary of State's office a Bureau of Statistics and 
Agriculture, under such regulations as may be 
prescribed by law, and provision shall be made 
by the General Assembly for the organization 
and encouragement of State and county Agri- 
cultural Associations. 

Sec. 5. The first General Assembly shall pro- 
vide by law for securing to the wife the separate 
property acquired by her before or after cove- 
ture, and the equal right with the husband to the 
custody of their children during their minority ; 
and in case of death, insanity, intemperance, or 
gross impropriety of the husband, their exclusive 
custody. 

Article XVI. — Amendments to the Consti- 
tution. 

Section 1. All propositions for amendments 
to the Constitution shall be made by the General 
Assembly. 

Sec. 2. A concurrence of two-thirds of the 
members elected to each House shall be neces- 
sary, after which such proposed amendments 
shall be entered upon the journals with the Yeas 
and Nays, and the Secretary of State shall cause 
the same to be published in at least one news- 
paper in each County in the State where a news- 
paper is published, for at least six months pre- 
ceding the next election for Senators and Rep- 
resentatives, when such proposed amendments 
shall be again referred to the Legislature elected 
next succeeding said publication. If passed by 
the second Legislature, by a majority of two- 
thirds of the members elected to each House, 
such amendments shall be republished as afore- 
said for at least six months prior to the next 
general election, at which election such proposed 
amendments shall be submitted to the people for 
their approval or rejection, and if the majority 
of the electors voting at such election shall 
adopt such amendments, the same shall become 
a part of the Constitution. 

Sec. 3. When more than one amendment is 
submitted at the same time, they shall be so sub- 
mitted as to enable the electors to vote upon 
each amendment separately. 

Sec. 4. No convention for the formation of a 
new constitution shall be called, and no amend- 
ment to the Constitution shall be by the General 
Assembly made, before tho year 1865, nor more 
than once in five years thereafter. 

Article XVII. — Banks and Currency. 

Section 1. No banks shall be established 
otherwise than under a General Banking Law. 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



155 



Sec. 2. If tho Gcnornl Assembly elmll etmct a 
Goucnil IJmikiii};^ Law, such law shall provide 
for thf rcj^istry and niuiitorBiL'iiinu l>y '''*> Aii- 
dit(u- of Statu of all \n{.\Mjv L-ruilit dosi^tui'd to be 
circ-ulatfd a.s money, willi atiiplo collateral mo- 
curily, readily eoiivertible into Hpeeie lor the 
reileiiiiitiun of tin- .same in f,'old or mlver, «iiall bo 
re(iuircd ; wiiieli eoUuteral Heeurity uliall be 
under the control of the proper oflieer, or oHicers 
of State. Such law shall restrict the fn^avL-f^iitc 
amount of all paper credit to be circulated as 
money, and the af,';,'regate amount to hv put in 
circufatiou in any one year ; and no note issued 
under the provision ot this section shall bo of 
a less denomination than ten dollars. 

Skc. ',i. Tho stockholders in every bank or 
banking; eomijnny shall be individualiv liable to 
an amount over and al)ov(^ their stock equal to 
their respective shares of stock for all debts and 
liabilities of said baidc or bankin;^ company. 

Skc. 1. All bills or notes i.^sued as money shall 
be at all times redeemable in jjold or silver ; and 
no law shall be passed sanctioning;, directly <u- 
indirectly, I lie suspension by any bank or bank- 
ing company of specie payments. 

Skc. o. Holders of bank notes shall be entitled, 
in case of insolvency, to prifereneo of specie 
payment over all other creditors. 

Skc. G. No bank shall rei'cive, directly or in- 
directlv, a greater rate of interest than shall be 
allowed by law to individuals loaning money. 

Skc. 7. Every bank or banking company shall 
bo required to ceaso all banking operations 
within twenty years from the time of its orgaui- 
zation, and promptly thereafter to close its Dusi- 
ness. 

Sec. 8. The State shall not bo a stockholder 
iu any bank or banking institution. 

Skc. !). All banks shall bo required to keep 
offices and proper oflicers for the issue and re- 
demption ot their paper at some accessible and 
convenient point within the State. 

Skc. 10. The said Banking law shall contain 
a provision reserving the power to alter, amend, 
or repeal said law. 

Sec. 11. At the time of submitting this Consti- 
tution to the electors for their approval or dis- 
approval, the articles numbered in relation to a 
General Banking Law shall be submitted as a 
distinct proposition in the following form: Gen- 
eral Banking Law ; Yes, or No ; and if a majority 
of the votes cast shall be in favor of said article, 
then tho same shall form a part of this Constitu- 
tion ; otherwise it shall be void and form no part 
thereof. 



SCHEDULE. 

In order that no inconvenience may arise from 
the organization and establishment of a State 
Government, and that the wishes of the people 
may be fully accomplished, it is declared : 

Firat : That no existing right.s, suits, prosecu- 
tions, claims, and contracts shall be affected by 
a change in the fomi of Government. 

Second: That this Constitution .shall be sub- 
mitted to the peoiile of Kansas for ratification on 
the loth day of December next. 

Thini : That each qualilied elector shall ex- 
press his assent or dissent to the Constitution by 
voting a written or printed ticket labeled " Cou- 
stitution'' or " No Constitution," which election 
shall beheld by the same Judges, and conducted 
under the same regulations and restrictions as is 
hereinafter provided for the election of Members 
of the General Assembly, and the Judges therein 
named shall, within ten days after said (lection, 
seal up and transmit to the Chairman of the Exe- 
cutive Committee of Kansas Territory the re- 
Bult of said election, who shall forthwith make 



l)roelnmation of tho same; and in cnBC tho Con- 
Btitulion be ratified by the people, tho Chairman 
of the Kxecutive Committee shall cause publica- 
tion to be mado liy proehimutiou that an election 
will be held on the third Tuesday of January, 
A.i). IHM, for (Jovenior, Lieutenant (Jovernor, 
Secretary of State, Treasurer. Auditor, Judges 
of the Supreme Court, State Printer, Altorney- 
(Jeneral, Keporter of the Siipreiiie Court, Clerk 
of the Supreme Court, and Members ol the Gene- 
ral Assembly, which said election shall be held 
by tho same Judges, under the same restrietioiia, 
and conducted in the same manner as is hereiu- 
after provided for tlie election of Jlembers of tho 
General Assembly ; and the Judges herein named 
are hereby reqniied, within ten days after said 
election, to seal niiand transmit duplicate copies 
of the returns of said election to the Chairman 
of the Exc<;utivo Committee, one of whi<h shall 
bo laid belbre the General Assembly at its first 
meeting. 

Fonrtli : At the same time and place, the quali- 
fied voters shall, under the same regulations and 
restrictions, elect a Member of Congress to rep- 
resent the State of Kansas iu the XXXIVth 
Congress of the United Slates; tho returns of 
said election to be made to the Chairman of the 
Executive Committee, who shall deposit the 
same in the office of the Secretary ot State aa 
soon as he shall enter upon the discharge of tho 
duties of his office. 

Fifth.- The General Assembly shall meet on 
the fourth day of March, a. d. 185G, at the City 
of Topeka, at 12 M., at which time aud place the 
Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of 
State, Judge of the Supreme Court, Treasurer, 
Auditor, State Printer, Keporter and Clerk of tho 
Supreme Court, and Attorney-General shall ap- 
pear, take the oath of office, and enter upon tho 
discharge of tho duties of their respective offices 
under this Constitution, and shall continue in of- 
fice in the same manner and during the same 
period they would have done had they been 
elected on the first Monday of August, a. d. 1856. 

[The Constitution then goes on to give the 
boundaries of the Eighteen Election-Districts into 
which the State is to be divided, to apportion the 
Senators aud Representatives, aud to appoint 
the voting places and the Judges of election. 
We subjom the concluding sectioue :] 

Instruction to Judges. 

Sec. 7. The throe Judges will provide for each 

E oil ballot-boxes for depositing the ballots cast 
y electors ; shall apjioint two clerks, all of whom 
shall be sworn or affinned to discharge the du- 
ties of their respective offices im])artially and 
with fidelity ; and the Judges and Clerks shall 
have power to administer the oath or affirmation 
to each other; and the said Judges shall open 
said election at 9 o'clock a. m., at the place desig- 
nated in each precinct, and close tho same at 6 
o'clock P. M. In case any of the oflicers ap- 
pointed fail to attend, tho officer or oflicers in at- 
tendance shall supply their places, and iu the 
event of all of them failing to attend the quali- 
fied voters shall supply their places, and the said 
Judges shall make out duplicate returns of said 
election, seal up and transmit tho same within 
ten days to the Chairman of the Executive Com- 
mittee, one copy of which is to bo laid before 
the General Assembly. If at the time of holding 
said election it shall be inconvenient, from any 
cause whatever, that would disturb or prevent 
the votei-s of any election-precinct iu the Terri- 
tory from the free and peaceable exercise of tho 
elective franchise, the oflicers are hereby au- 
thorized to adjourn said election into any "other 
precinct in the Territory, and to any other day 
they may see proper, of tho necessity of whicn 
they shall be the eicUisivo judges, at which 



156 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



time and place the qualified voters may cast 
their votes. 

Sec. 8. Until otherwise provided by law, the 
Chairman of the Executive Commitee of Kansas 
Territory shall announce by proclamation the 
result of the elections and the names of persons 
elected to office. 

Skc. 9. No person shall be entitled to a seat 
in the first General Assembly at its organization 
except the members whose names are contained 
in the proclamation of the Chairman of the Exe- 
cutive Committee ; but after the General As- 
sembly is organized seats may be contested in 
the usual way. 

Sec. 10. Certificates of indebtedness may be 
issued by the Territorial Executive Cominittee, 
for all necessary expenses accruing in the forma- 
tion of the State Government, not exceeding 
$25,000; provided no certificates shall be is.sued 
except for legitimate expenses. All claims shall 
be made in writing, and shall be numbered and 
kept on file in the Secretary's office, and all cer- 
tificates of indebtedness shall be signed by the 
President and Secretary, and countersigned by 
the Treasur,er and numbered to correspond with 
the numbers of the claim or bill for which it was 
issued. The certificate shall bear ten per cent, 
interest per annum. 

Sec. 11. The first General Assembly shall pro- 
vide by law for the redemption of the certifi- 
cates of indebtedness issued under the provisions 
of the foregoing section. 

Sec 12. Until the great seal of the State of 
Kansas is agreed upon and procured, as provi- 
ded for in the eleventh section of the fifth article 
of this Constitution, the Governor shall use his 
own private seal as the Seal of State. 

Sec. 13. At the election for the ratification of 
this Constitution, and the first election for State 
officers, a representation in the Congress of the 
United States and members of the General As- 
sembly of this State, an actual residence in the 
Territory of thirty days immediately preceding 
said election shall be sufficient as a qualifica- 
tion for the elector ; and an actual residence of 
ninety days for the candidates, provided said 
election and candidates possess all the other 
qualifications required by the provisions of this 
Constitution. 

Sec. 14. The first Legislature shall provide by 
law for the enforcement of the provisions of the 
6th section of the Bill of Rights on or before the 
4th day of July, 1857, as to all persons in the 
Territory before the adoption of this Constitu- 
tin, and as to all others, the provisions of said 
section shall operate from and after the ratifica- 
tion of this Constitution by the people. 

ROBERT KLOTZ, W. GR.\HAM, 

M. J. PARROTT, MORRIS HUNT, 

M. W. DELAHAY, J. H. NE.-*BiTT, 

W. R. GRIFFITH, C K HOLLIDAY, 

G. S. HILI.YER, DAVID DODGB, 

WM. HICKS, J. A. WAKEKIELD, 

S N. LATl'A. W. Y. ROBERTri, 

JOHN LANHIS, G. W. SMITH. 

H. BURSON. J. G. THOMPSON. 

C. W. SI'EWART, G. A. CUTLER, 

J. M. ARTHUR, J. K. GOODIN. 

J. h. SAYLE, J. M. TUTON, 

CALEB MAY, THOMAS BELL, 

S. MEWHINY, R. H. CROSBY. 

A. CURTISS, P.C.SCHUYLER, 

A. HUNTING, C. ROBIN.-ON, 

R. KNIGHT, MF. CONWAY", 

O.G.BROWN, J. S. EMtRY, 

J. H. LANE, President. 

Sam. C Smith, Secretary, 

Chableb A. Foster, Assistant Secretary. 

June 30th. — Mr. Douglas reported to the 
Senate on several bills submitted by Messrs. 
Clayton, Toombs, and others, for the pacifi- 



cation of the Kansas troubles, as also de- 
cidedly against Gov. Seward's proposition 
to admit Kansas as a Free State, under her 
'^I^opeka Constitution. Mr. CoUaraer, being 
the minority of the Territorial Committee, 
made a brief and pungent counter-report. 
Mr. Douglas gave notice that he would ask 
for a final vote on the day after the next. 

July 1st. — Bill debated by Messrs. 
Thompson of Ky., Hale of N. H., Bigler of 
Pa., Adams of Miss., and Crittenden of 
Ky. 

July 2d. — Debate continued through the 
day and following night, the majority re- 
sisting all motions to adjourn. Messrs. 
Wade, Pugh, Biggs, Bigler, Toombs, Clay- 
ton, Crittenden, Bell, Seward, Hale, and 
nearly half the Senate participated. An 
amendment moved by Mr. Adams of Miss., 
the day before, striking out so much of the 
bill as secures the Right of Suffrage, in the 
proposed reorganization of Kansas, to alien 
residents who shall have declared their in- 
tention to become citizens, and renounced 
all allegiance to foreign governments, was 
adopted : Yeas 22 ; Nays IG, as follows : 

YEAS — Messrs. Adams and Brown of Miss., 
Bayard and Clayton of Del , Biggs and Eeid of 
N. C, John Bell of Tenn., Brodhead of Penn., 
C. C. Clay and Fitzpatrick of Ala., CoUamer 
and Foot of Vt., Crittenden and J. B. Thompson 
of Ky., Fessenden of Maine, Foster of Conn., 
Geyer of Mo., Hunter and Mason of Va., Iverson 
of Ga., Mallory and Yulee of Fla.— 22. 

NAYS— Messrs. Allen of R. I., Bigler of Pa., 
Butler and Evans of S. C, Bright of Ind., Cass 
of Mich., Dodge of Wise, Douglas of 111., Jones 
of Iowa, Pugh of Ohio, Seward of N. Y., Slidell 
of La., Toombs of Ga., Weller of Cal., Wilson 
of Mass., Wright of N. J.— 16. 

Sometime in the morning of July 3rd, the 
following amendment, reduced to shape by 
Mr. Geyer of Mo., was added to the 18th 
section of the bill — only Brown of Miss., 
Fitzpatrick of Ala., and Mason of Va., 
voting against it : Yeas 40. It provides 
that 

" No law shall be made or have force or effect 
in said Territory [of Kansas] which shall require 
any attestation or oath to support any act of Con- 
gress or other legislative act, as a qualification for 
any civil office, public trust, or for any employ- 
ment or profession, or to serve as a juror, or vote 
at an election, or which shall impose any tax 
upon, or condition to, the exercise of the right of 
suffrage, by any qualified voter, or which shall 
restram or prohibit the free discussion of any 
law or subject of legislation in the said Territory, 
or the free expression of opinion thereon by the 
people of said Territory." 

An amendment proposed by Mr. Clayton, 
to the same effect as the above, but rather 
more comprehensive in its terms, was super- 
seded by the adoption of the foregoing, by 
a party vote : Yeas 34 ; Nays 11 [Free- 
State men]. 

Mr. Trumbull of 111. moved the follow- 
ing : 

^^ And be it further enacted, That it was the 
true intent and meaning of the ' act to organize 



Till': KANSAS-NnnRASICA STRUGGLE. 



157 



the Territories of Neljrnfka luul Kiiiwtis,' not to 
leRislutc HJuvory into Kimsiii*, nor to ixchulo it 
thorclVoin, l)iit to loivc tli<' inopl'- llificot per 
fectlv livo throuKb tluir TiTritorial Le^rislnture 
to r'f'-uliito till- institution of nlnvory m tluMr 
own way, subieot only to th.< C'onstitntion ol 
the United Stilted, and tiint, niitil tlu- Tcrntonnl 
L..,'i slat lire nets npoii tlif subject, tlie owner o» 
a shive ill one of the States lias no ri^,'ht or (ill- 
tiioritv to take sueh slave into the Territory of 
Kansas, nii.l tluie hold him ns n slave; but 
every slave tak.Mi to the Territory ot Kansas 
by his owner for jmrposes ol Hettleineiit is here- 
by declared to be free, unless there is some valid 
(let of a duly eonstituted Legislutivo Assembly 
of saiil Territory, under which he may be held 
as a slave." 

The Yeas and Nays being ordered, the 
proposition was voted down — Yeas 9 ; 
Nays 34 — as follows : 

YEAS— Messrs Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, 
Foster, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and 
•\Vilson— y. 

NAYS— Messrs. Adams, Allen. Bayard, Bell 
of Tennessee, Benjamin, Bifisc.s, Bigler, Bright, 
Brodhead, Brown, Cass, Clay, Crittenden, 
Dodj;e, DouRlas, Evans, Fitzpatriek, (Jeyer, 
Hunter, Iveison, Johnson, Jones of Iowa. Mallo- 
ry, Pratt. I'ugh, Keid, Sebastian, Slidell, Thomp- 
son of Kentucky, Toombs, Touccy, Weller, 
Wright, and Yulee — 34. 

Mr. Trumbull then proposed the follow- 
ing : 

" And he it further enacted, That the provi- 
sion in the ' act to organize the Territories of 
Nebraska and Kansas,' whicli declares it to be 
' the true intent and meaning' of said act ' not to 
legislate slavery into anv Territory or State, nor 
to e.xelude it therefrom, "ijut to leave the people 
thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their 
domestic institutions in their own way, subject 
only to the Constitution of the United States,' 
was intended to, and does, confer ujiim, or leave 
to, the people of the Territory of Kansas full 
power, at any time, through its Territorial Legis- 
lature, to e.xelude slavery from said Territory or 
to recognize and regulate it therein." 

This, too, was voted down, as follows : 
YEAS— Messrs. Allen, Bell of New-Hamp- 
shire, Collamer, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Fos- 
ter, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, and Wade— 11. 

NAYS— Messrs. Adams, Bayard, Benjamin, 
Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Cass, 
Clav, CritTenden. Dodge. Douglas, Evans, Fitz- 
patriek, (reyer, Hunter, Iver.son, John.son, Jones 
of Iowa, Mallory, Mason, Pratt, Pugh, Reid, Se- 
bastian, Slidell," Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, 
Toombs, Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Yulee— 
34. 

Mr. Trumbull then proposed the follow- 
ing : 

And be it further enacted, That all the acts 
and proceedings of all and every body of men 
heretofore assembled in said Temtory of Kan- 
sas, and claiming to be a Legislative Assembly 
thereof, with authority to pass laws for the gov- 
ernment of said Territory, are hereby declared 
to be utterly null and void. And no person shall 
hold any office, or exercise any authority or ju- 
risdiction in said Territory, under or by virtue 
of any power or authority derived from sucli 
Legislative Assembly ; nor shall the members 
thereof exercise any power or authority as such. 

This, too, was voted down, as fuliows : 

YEAS- Messrs. Bell of New-Hampshire, Col- 



lamer, Durkoe, Fonsonden, Foot, Foaler, Halo, 
Seward, Trumbull, Wad«-, and Wilson— II. 

NAYS— MessrR. Adams. Allen, Bayard, Bell 
of 'i'ennessee, Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, 
Biddhead, Brown", Cass, Clay, Crittenden, 
Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatriek, (teyer, 
Hunter, Ivers lohnson, Jones of Iowa, Mal- 
lory, Mason, Pratt, Pugh, Keid, Sebastian, Sli- 
dell, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, 
Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Yulee — M. 

Mr. Foster of Conn, moved the following 
amendment : 

" Skc. — . And be it further enacted, That, un- 
til the inhabitantsof said Territory shall proceed 
to hold a convention to form a Slate constitu- 
tion according to the jirovisions of this ai't, and 
so long as said Territory remains a Territory, 
the following sectiims contained in chapter one 
hundred and fifty-one, in the volume transmitted 
to the Senate by the President of the United 
States, as containing the laws of Kansas, be, and 
the same arc h<reby, declared to be utterly null 
and void, viz. : 

"'Sbc. 12. If any freeperson, by speiiking orby writ- 
inK, as-iTt nr inaiiit;iici th»t per8(in,s huve not the 
riKlU to holit s'aves in this T«-riitiiry, or sliiill intro- 
duce into this Teiritory atiy l)"ok. papiT. magazine, 
paniplilet. or circular, containing any denial <if the 
right of persons to hold slaves iu thi- Terrili>ry, such 
persons siiuU "oe d' emed guilty of felony, and punish- 
ed by imprisonment at hard labor for a terra of not 
less than two years. 

•• ■ Sbc. 13. No person who is conscientiously opposed 
to holding slaves, or who does not admit th- right to 
hold slaves in this Torrit'iry, shall sit «s a juror on 
the trial of anv pr^ sedition for the violation of any 
one of the sections of this act.' " 

This was rejected [as superfluous, or 
covered by a former amendment,] as fol- 
lows : 

YEAS— I^Iessrs. Allen, Bell of New-Hamp- 
shire, Clayton, Collamer, Durkee, Fessi-nden, 
Foot. Fos'ter, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, 
and Wilson — 13. 

NAYS— Messrs. Bayard, Benjamin, Biggs, 
Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Cass, Clay, 
Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatriek, Geyer, 
Hunter, Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mal- 
lory, Mason, Pratt. Pugh, Reid, Sebastian, Sli- 
dell, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, 
Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Y'ulee — "3^2. 

Mr. Collamer of Vt. proposed the follow- 
ing : 

And be it further enacted, That until the peo- 
ple of said Territory shall form a constitution 
and State government, and be admitted into the 
Union under the provisions of this act, there 
shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servi- 
tude in said Temtory, otherwise than in punish- 
ment of crimes whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted: Provided alirai/:<. That 
any person escaping into the same, from whom 
labor or .service is lawfully claimed in any State, 
such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed end 
conveyed to the person claiming his or her ser- 
vice or labor as aforesaid. 

This was voted down as follows : 

YEAS— Messrs. Bell of New-Hampshire, Col- 
lamer, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, Seward, 
Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson— 10. 

j,-,VYS_Messrs. Bavard, Bell of Tennessee, 
Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, 
Brown, Cass, Clay, Clayton, Crittenden, Dodgo, 
D<iuglttS, Evans, Fitzpatriek, Geyer, Hunter, 
Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mallory, Ma- 
son. Pratt, Pugh, Reid, Sebastian, Slidell. Stuart, 
Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, Toucey, Wel- 
ler, Wright, and Yulee — 35. 



158 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



Mr. Wilson of Mass. moved that the 
whole bill be stricken out and another in- 
serted instead, repealing all the Territorial 
laws of Kansas. 

Rejected : Yeas 8, (Bell of N. H., Colla- 
mer, Durkee, Fessenden, Foster, Seward, 
"Wade and Wilson ;) Nays 35. 

_ Mr. Seward moved to strike out the whole 
bill, and insert instead one admitting Kan- 
sas as a Free State, under the Topeka Con- 
stitution : Defeated— Yeas 11 ; Nays 3G— 
as follows : 

YE AS— Messrs. Bell of New Hampshire, Col- 
lamer, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, 
Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson— 11. 

NAYS— Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Bell of Ten- 
nessee, Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brod- 
head. Brown, Cass, Clay, Clayton, Crittenden, 
Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Geyer, 
Hunter, Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mal- 
lory. Mason, Pratt, Pugh, Keid, Sebastian, Sli- 
dell, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, 
Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Yulee— 36. 

The bill was now reported as amended, 
and the amendment made in Committee of 
the Whole concurred in. The bill was 
then (8 a. m.) ordered to be engrossed and 
read a third time ; and, on the question of 
its final passage, the vote stood — Yeas 33 ; 
Nays 12 — as follows : 

YEAS— Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Bell of Ten- 
nessee, Benjamin, Biggs, Bi^ler, Bright, Brod- 
head. Brown, Cass, Clay, Crittenden, Douglas, 
Evans, I'itzpatrick, Geyer, Hunter, Iverson, 
Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mallory, Pratt, Pugh, 
Reid, Sebastian, Slidell, Stuart, Thompson of 
Kentucky, Toombs, Toucey, Weller, Wright, 
and Yulee — 33. 

NAYS— Messrs. Bell of New-Hampshire, Col- 
lamer, Dodge, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Fos- 
ter, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson 
—12. 

The bill was then sent to the House in 
the following shape : 

AN ACT 
To authorize the people of the Territory of Kansas to 
form a constitution and State government prepara- 
tory to their admission into the Union on an equal 
footing with the original States. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and Ho7ise of Rep- 
resentatives of the United States of America in 
Congress assembled, That, for the purpose of 
making an enumeration of the inhabitants, au- 
thorized to vote under the provisions of this act, 
an apportionment and an election of members of 
a convention to form a State constitution for 
Kansas, as hereinafter provided, five competent 
persons shall be appointed by the President, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
to be commissioners, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum for the purpose of carrying 
into effect the provisions of this act, each ot 
whom, before entering upon the duties of his 
ofiSce, shall take and subscribe an oath or affirma- 
tion that lie will support the Constitution of the 
United States, and faithfully and impartially ex- 
ercise and discharfje the duties enjoined on him 
by this act, according to the best of his skill and 
judgment, which oath or affirmation shall be ad- 
ministered to thein severally, and be duly certi- 
fied by a judge, clerk, or commissioner of a 
court of the United States, and filed and recorded 
in the oflico of the Secretary of the Territory of 
Kansas. 



Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall 
bo the duty of said commissioners, under such 
regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may 
prescribe, to cause to be made a full and faithful 
enumeration of the legal voters resident in each 
county in the said Territory on the fourth day of 
July, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, and make 
returns thereof during the month of August next, 
or as soon thereafter as practicable, one of which 
returns shall be made to the office of the Secretary 
of the Interior, and one to the secretary of the 
Territory of Kansas, and which shall also exhibit 
the names of all such legal voters, classed in 
such manner as shall be prescribed by the regu- 
lations of the Secretary of the interior. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That it shall 
be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior, im- 
mediately after the passage of this act, to pre- 
scribe regulations and forms to be observed in 
making the enumeration aforesaid, and to furnish 
the same with all necessary blanks to each of the 
commissioners as soon as may be after their ap- 
pointment; and the commissioners shall meet 
without delay at the seat of government of Kan- 
sas Territory, and proceed to the discharge of 
the duties herein imposed upon them, and ap- 
point a secretary to the board and such other 
persons as shall be necessary to aid and assist 
them in takuig the enumeration herein provided 
for, who must also be duly sworn faithfully, im- 
partially, and truly to discharge the duties as- 
signed them by the commissioners. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That said 
board of commissioners shall, so soon as said 
census shall bo completed and returns made, 
proceed to make an apportionment of the mem- 
bersfor a convention, among the different coun- 
ties in said Territory, in the following manner: 
The whole number of legal voters shall be divid- 
ed by fifty-two, and the product of such division, 
rejecting any fraction of a unit, shall be the ratio 
or rule of apportionment of members among the 
several counties ; and if any county shall not 
have a number of legal voters, thus ascertained, 
equal to the ratio, ii shall be attached to some 
adjoining county, and thus form a representative 
district, the number of said voters in each coun- 
ty or district shall then be divided by the ratio, 
and the product shall be the number of representa- 
tives ajtportioned to such county or district: 
Provided, That the loss in the number of mem- 
bers caused by the fractions remaining in the 
several counties, in the division of the legal 
voters thereof, shall be compensated by assign- 
ing to so many counties as have the largest 
fractions an additional member for its fraction, 
as may be necessary to make the whole number 
of representatives fifty-two. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That the 
said board, immediately after the apportionment 
of the members of said convention, shall cause 
a sufficient number of copies thereof and of the 
returns of the census (specifying the name of 
each legal voter in each county or district) to be 
published and distributed among the inhabitants 
of the several counties, and shall transmit one 
copy of the said apportionment and census, duly 
authenticated by tliem, to each clerk of a coui-t 
of record within the Territory, who shall file the 
same, and keep open to the inspection of every 
inhabitant who shall desire to examine it, and 
shall also cause other copies to be posted up in 
at least three of the most public places in each 
voting precinct, to the end that every inhabitant 
may inspect the same, and apply to the board to 
correct any eiTor he may find thei-ein, in the 
manner hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That said 
board shall remain in session each day, Sundays 
excepted, from the time of making said appor- 
tionment until the twentieth day of October 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE, 



169 



next, at biuIi plnces an slinll he most convenient 
to tlio iiilmbitiiiil8 of Hiiid 'IVrritory, iiiiil bIiuII 

Erofcod to tli<! iiisiicctiim of trnUl returns, (mil 
cur, corri'i't, nnd tiimlly dcteniiino accordiu},' to 
tho tiK'ts, williout unreiwoniildo dcluy, undrr 
proper roxulationH to lie niado by tlie board, for 
the ascortaiiinioiit of disimtid lactti concorniuj,' 
said c-nuuKMiition, all (|iiestion8 concorniuf,' tlio 
omission ol'any person from said riturns, or tlio 
impropor insertion >d'any nnmo on said rclunis, 
jind any other ijueslion tiffectint; the inte;,'rity or 
fidelity of said returns, and for this purpose tlie 
said board and each lucmbi'r thereof shall have 
power to administer oalhs and examine wit- 
nesses, and eompel their utteiidauco in sueh 
manner as said board shall deem noecssiiry. 

Skc. 7. Anil be it furl tier enacted, Tliut ns 
Boon as the said lists of lejjal viders shall thus 
have been revised and eorrei'led, it shall be the 
duty of said board to eause eopies thereof to be 

Erinted and distributed generally amonf; the in- 
aliitants of the proiiosed IState, and one copy 
shall be deposited witii the clerk of caeh eourl of 
record within the limits of the proposed State, 
and one copy delivered to eaeli judge of the 
election, and at least throe copies shall be posted 
up at each jjlaee of voting. 

Skc. 8. And he it further enacted. That nn 
election shall bo held for members of a (conven- 
tion to form a constitution for tho State of Kan- 
sas, according to the apportionment to bo made 
aforesaid, ou tho tirst Tuesday after tho first 
Monday in November, eighteen hundred and 
fifty-six, to be held at sudi places and to bo eon- 
ducted in such manner, both as to persons who 
shall superintend sueh election and tho returns 
thereof as the board of connnissioners shall ap- 
point and direct, except in cases by this act 
otherwitic providi'd ; and at such election no per- 
son shall be permitted to vote unless his name 
shall appear on said corrected lists. 

Sec. y. And be it further enacted. That the 
board of commissioners shall have power, an<l it 
shall bo their duty, to make all needful rules and 
regulations for the conduct of the said election 
and the returns thereof. They shall appoint 
three suitable persons to be judges of the elec- 
tion Qt each place of voting, and prescribe the 
mode of supplying vacancies. They shall cause 
copies of the rules and regulations, with a notice 
of the places of holding elections and the names 
of the judges, to be published and distributed in 
every election-district or precinct ten days be- 
fore tho day of election, and shall transmit a copy 
thereof to the clerk of caeh court of record, and 
one copy to each judge of election. 

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the 
judges of election shall each, before entering on 
the discharge of his duties, make oath or atiirma- 
tion that he will faithfully and impartially dis- 
charge the duties ofjudgeof the election accord- 
ing to law, which oath may be administered by 
any oflicer authorized by law tt) administer 
oaths. The clerks of election shall be appointed 
by the judges, and t^hall take the like oath or 
ailirmation, to be administered by one of the 
judges or tiy any of the oliicers aforesaid. Dupli- 
cate returns of election shall be made and certi- 
fied by the judges and clerks, one of which shall 
be deposited in the otlice of the clerk of the tri- 
bunal transacting county business for the county 
in which the election is held, and the other shall 
be transmitted to the board of commissioners, 
whose duty it shall be to decide, under proper 
regulations to be made by themselves, who are 
entitled to certificates of election, and to issue 
such certilicates accordingly, to the persons who, 
npou examination of he returns and of such 
proofs as shall be adduced in case of a contest, 
shall appear to have been duly elected in each 
county or district: Provided, In case of a tie or 



of a contcHt, in which it cannot bo satisfactorily 
determined who waH duly elected, said conimis- 
sioners shall order a new election in like maimer 
as is herein proviiled. IJjioii the eoiiii>letion of 
these duties tho said comminKioiierB shall return 
to Washington, and rejiort their proceedings to 
tlio Secretary of tho Interior, whereupon said 
eonnnission shall coaso and dciennino. 

Skc. 11. And lie it further enacted, That 
every white male citizen of tho United Slates 
over twenty-one years of age, who may bo a 
liona Jiilf inhabitant ofsaiilTerritory on the fourth 
day of .luly, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, and 
who hihall have resided three months ne.xl before 
said election in the county in which he oft'iTs to 
vote, and no other persons wliatever shall bo en- 
titled to vote at said election, and any person 
qualiticd as a voter may be a di-legate to said 
convention, ami no others ; and all persons who 
shall jiossess the other ([ualifications lor voters 
under this act, and who sliall liavo been bona 
tide inhabitants of.said Territory at any time since 
its organization, and wlio shall have absented 
themselves therefrom in conseouenco of the dis- 
turbances therein, and who shall return before the 
first day of Octol)or next and become bona fide 
iniiabitants of the Territory with Iho intent of 
making it their permanent lunno, and shall pre- 
sent satisfactory evidence of these facts to the 
board of commissioners, shall be entitled to vote 
at said election, and to have their names placed 
on said corrected list of voters for that purpose ; 
and to avoid all confiict in the complete execu- 
tion of this act, all other elections in said Terri- 
tory are hereby postponed until such time as said 
convention shall appoint. 

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That tho 
said commissioners, and all persons appointed 
by them to assist in taking the census, shall 
have power to administer oaths and examine 
persons on oath in all cases where it shall be 
necessary to the full and faithful performance 
of their duties under this act ; and the secretary 
shall keep a journal of the proceedings of said 
board, and transmit copies thereof from time to 
time to the Secretary of the Interior; an<l when 
said commissioners shall have completed the 
business of their appointment, the books and 



papers of the board shall bo deposited in the 
secretary of the Territory and ther 
kept as records of his oflice. 



otlice of the Secretary < 



Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That if 
any person by menaces, threats, or force, or by 
any other unlawful means, shall directly or in- 
directly attempt to infiuence any qualified voter 
in giving his vote, or deter him from going to 
tho jjolls, or disturb or hinder him in tho free 
exercise of his right of suftVago at said election, 
the person so offending shall bo adiudged guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and punished by tine of not 
less tlian two hundred and fifty dollars, nor ex- 
ceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprison- 
ment of not less than three mouths, nor exceeding 
one year, or by both. 

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That every 
person, not being a (jualified voter according to 
the provisions of this act, who shall vote at any 
election within the said Territory, knowing that 
he is not entitled to vote, and every person who 
shall, at the same election, vote more than once, 
whether at the same or a different place, shall be 
adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punish- 
ed by fine of not less than one hundred dollars, 
nor exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, or 
by imprisonment not less than three months, nor 
exceeding six months, or both. 

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted. That any 
person whatsoever who may be charged with 
holding the election herein authorized, who shall 
willfully and knowingly commit any fraud or ir- 
regularhy whate vcr,with the intent it to hinder, or 



160 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



prevent, or defeat a fair expression of the popu- 
lar will iu the said election, shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and punished by fine not less than 
five hundred dollars, nor exceeding one thousand 
dollars, and imprisonment not less than six 
months, nor exceeding two years, or both, at 
the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 1(). And be it further enacted, That the 
delegates thus elected shall assemble in C(niven- 
tion ut the capitol of said Territory on the first 
Monday in December next; and when so as- 
sembled, shall first determine by a majority of 
the whole number of members elected whether 
it be or be not expedient at that time to form a 
constitution and State government ; and if deem- 
ed expedient, shall proceed to form a constitution 
and State government, which shall be republican 
in its form, for admission into the Union on an 
equal footing with the original States in all 
respects whatever, by the name of the State of 
Kansas, with the following boundaries, to wit: 
beginning on the western boundary of the State 
of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of 
north latitude crosses the same, then west on 
said parallel to the one hundred and third meri- 
dian of longitude, then north on said meridian 
to the fortieth parallel of latitude, then east 
on said parallel of latitude to the western bound- 
arj' of the State of Missouri, then southward 
with said boundary to the beginning; and 
until the next congressional apportionment the 
said State shall have one representative in the 
House of Kepresentatives of the United States. 

Sec 17. And be it further enacted, That said 
commissioners shall receive, as their compensa- 
tion, ten dollars per day during their attendance 
on the business of said commission, beginning 
on the day they depart from home and their 
actual expenses, and said secretary of the board 
the sum of eight dollars per day, computed in 
like manner, and his expenses, and the said 
assistants, for taking the census, shall receive 
Buch reasonable compensation as the boai'd shall 
deem just and equitable. 

Sec 18. And be it further enacted, That in- 
asmuch as the Constitution of the United States 
and the organic act ofsaid Territory have secured 
to the inhabitants thereof certain inalienable 
rights of which they cannot be deprived by any 
legislative enactment, therefore no religious 
test shall ever be required as a qualification to 
any ofiice or public trust ; no law shall be in 
force or enforced in said Temtory respecting an 
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free 
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press ; or of the right of the 
people peaceably to assemble, and petition for 
the redress of gi-ievances ; the right of the people 
to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and 
effects against unreasonable searches and seiz- 
ures shall not be violated ; and no warrant 
shall issue but upon probable cause, supported 
by oath or affinnation, and particularly describ- 
ing the place to be searched, and the person or 
things to be seized ; nor shall the rights of the 
people to keep and bear arms be infringed. No 
person shall be held to answer for a capital or 
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present- 
ment or indictment of a grand jury ; nor shall 
any person be subject for the same offense to be 
twice put in jeopardy of life or li)nh ; nor shall be 
compelled in any criminal case to be a witness 
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, 
or property without due process of law ; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use with- 
out just compensation. In all criminal prosecu- 
tion, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy 
and public trial by an impartial jury of the district 
wherein the crimt; shall have been committed, 
which district shall have been previously as- 
certained by law, and to be informed of the 



nature and cause of the accusation ; to be con- 
fronted with the witnesses against him : to have 
compulsory process of obtaining witnesses in his 
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for 
his defense. The privilege of habeas corpus shall 
not be suspended, unless when in case of rebel- 
lion or invasion, the public safety may require 
it. In suits at common law, where the value in 
controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the 
right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and 
no fact tried by jury shall be otherwise re-ex- 
amined in any court of the United States than ac- 
cording to the rules of the common law. Exces- 
sive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 
inflicted. No law shall be made or have force 
or effect in said Ten-itory which shall require a 
test oath or oath to support any act of Congress or 
other legislative act as a qualification for any 
civd office or public trust, or for any employ- 
ment or profession, or to serve as a juror, or vote 
at an election, or which shall impose any tax 
upon or condition to the exercise of the right of 
suffrage by any qualified voter, or which shall 
restrain or prohibit the free disciission of any 
law or subject of legislation in the said Territory, 
or the free expression of opinion thereon by the 
people of said Territory. 

Sec 19. And be it further enacted, That the 
following propositions be, and the same are 
hereby, offered to the said convention of the 
people of Kansas for their free acceptance or 
rejection, which, if accepted by the convention, 
shall be obligatory on the United States and 
upon the said State of Kansas, to wit : 

First. That sections numbered sixteen and 
thirty-six in every township of public lands in 
said State, and where either of said sections or 
any part thereof has been sold or otherwise been 
disposed of, other lands, equivalent thereto and 
as contiguous as may be, shall be granted in 
said State for the use of schools. 

Second. That seventy-two sections of land 
shall be set apart and reserved for the use and 
support of a State university, to be selected by 
the Governor ofsaid State, subject to the approval 
of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
and to be appropriated and applied in such man- 
ner as the legislature of said State may pre- 
scribe for the purpose aforesaid, but for no other 
purpose. 

Third. That ten entire sections of land, to be 
selected by the governor of said Stale, in legal 
subdivisions, shall be granted to said State for 
the purpose of completing the public buildings, 
or for the erection of others at the seat of gov- 
ernment, under the direction of the legislature 
thereof 

Fourth. That all salt springs within said 
State, not exceeding twelve in number, with six 
sections of land adjoining, or as contiguous as 
may be to each, shall be granted to said State 
for its use ; the same to be selected by the gov- 
ernor thereof within one year after the admis- 
sion of said State, and, when so selected, to be 
used or disposed of on such terms, conditions, 
and regulations as the legislature shall direct. 
Provided, That no salt spring or land, the right 
whereof is now vested in any individual or indi- 
viduals, or which may be hereafter confirmed 
or adjudged to any individual or individuals, 
shall by this article be granted to said State. 

F/fth. That five per centum of the net pro- 
ceeds of sales of all public lands lying within 
said State, which shall be sold by Congress after 
the admission of said State into the Union, after 
deducting all the expenses incident to the same, 
shall be paid to said State, for the purpose of 
making public roads and internal improvements, 
as the legislature shall direct : Provided, The 
foregoing propositions herein offered are on the 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE. 



IGl 



ronditiDn, that the snid convention wliicU nhnll 
form tlic cunstitiititui of suiil Stntosluill jiruviilo, 
by ii i-lnuse in said constitution, or nn ortlinnni-c, 
in■c^■()Clll)l(' witliout tlic consent <if the United 
States, tiiiit said State Hliall n<'Vi r interfere with 
the jiriniarv dispusal of the noil williin file Kanie, 
!>>■ tho United States, or with any re;;uhitions 
('on<,'res.s may find necessary for securiiifj the 
title in said soil to bona fide "purchasers thireof, 
nnd that no tax shall Ix- imposetl on lands be- 
lonij'inir to tho United States, and that in no case 
shall nonresident proprietors be taxed higher 
than residents. 

Skc. X'U. And be it further enacted. That tho 
President be, and is hereby, authorized and 
eiiipowered, upon application of tin- said board 
of cominissiouers, to employ such military force, 
nccordin;^ to existiiiff laws, as ho ^hall dcein 
necessary to secure the faithful execution of the 
provisions of this act. 

Passed the Senate, July 2, 1856. 

Attest: AsBUKV DicKiNs, 

Secretary. 

The bill was never acted on in tlie House, 
but lay on the Speaker's table, untouched, 
when the session terminated by adjournment, 
Monday, Aug. 18th. 

Juhj 6th. — In Senate, Mr. Douglas re- 
ported back from the Committee on Terri- 
tories the House bill to admit Kansas as a 
State, with an amendment striking out all 
after the enacting clause, and inserting in- 
stead the Senate bill (Xo. 35(i) just given. 

^[r. Hale of N. H. moved to amend this 
substitute by providing that all who migrate 
to the Territory prior to July 4th, 1857, 
shall l)e entitled to a vote in determining 
the character of the institutions of Kansas : 
Lost ; Yeas 13 ; Xays 32. 

Mr. Trumbull, of 111. moved that all 
the Territorial laws of Kansas be repealed 
and the Territorial officers dismissed : Re- 
jected ; Yeas 1 2 ; Nays 32. 

Mr. Collamer of Yt. proposed an amend- 
ment, prohibiting Slavery in all that por- 
tion of the Louisiana purchase north of 
36*^ 30' not included in the Territory of 
Kansas : Rejected — Yeas 12 ; Nays 30 — as 
follows : 

YEAS — Messrs. Bell of N. H., Collamer, 
DodM, Fessenden, Fish, Foot, Foster, Hale, 
Hanilin, Seward, Trumbull and Wade. 

NAYS — Messrs. Adams, Kavnrd, Benjamin, 
Biggs, Bright, Brodhead, Butler, Cass, Clay, 
Crittenden, Douglas, Fitzpafrick, Geyer, Hunter, 
Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Jon'^s of Tenn., 
Mallorv, Mason, Pcaree, Pugh, Keid, Sebastian, 
Slidell," Stuart, Thompson of Ky., Toombs, Wel- 
er and Yulee. 

The substitute reported by Mr. Douglas 
was then agreed to : Yeas 32 ; Nays 13 — 
and the bill in this shape passed. 

[This amendment was not concurred in 
nor ever acted on by the House.] 

July 20tli. — Mr. Dunn of Ind. called up 
a bill " To reorganize the Territory of Kan- 
sas and for other purposes," which he had 
originally (July 7th) propo.sed as a substi- 
tute for Senate bill (Xo. 3.5G) aforesaid. 
Its length, and the substantial identity of 
11 



many of its provisions with those of other 
bills organizing 'IVrrituries contained in 
this volume, dissuade us from (|uoting it 
entire. It provides for a legislative elec- 
tion on the first 'I'uesday in November ne.\t ; 
and section 7 proceeds : 

But it shall not bo comjietent for said Leginln- 
tivc Assembly to pass any er post ficto law, or 
law impairing the validity of contracts ; nor nuy 
law in abridgment of the freedom of siieecli or 
of the press, or to deprive any one of the right of 
trial by jury, or of the writ of habeas curjnig ; 
nor any law requiring any property (lualification, 
or religious test, for the right to vote, hold oflice, 
or practice law, or servo on juries, in any Court 
of Justice; neither shall any person, to be enti- 
tled to any of said jirivileges, be rcfpiired to faio 
nn oath or allh-niation to support any law other 
than the Constitution of the United States. 
Nor shall cruel or unusual punishments bo al- 
lowed nor reasonable bail bo refused to any 
person accused of any crime excei)f treason and 
murder, nor in the latter ease unless the proof is 
evideut or the presumption great. 

»»•♦«* 

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That all 
suits, processes, ana proceedings, civil and 
criminal, at law and in chancery, and all in- 
dictments and informations which shall bo pend- 
ing and undetermined in the courts of the Terri- 
tory of Kansas or of New-]\Ixeico, when this act 
shall take effect, shall remain in said courts 
where pending, to be heard, tried, prosecuted, nnd 
determined in such courts as though this act had 
not been passed : Provided, ncverthcle.i.i. That 
all criminal prosecutions now pending in any of 
the courts ot the Teiritory of Kansas imputing to 
any person or persons the crime of treason 
against the United Slates, and all criminal prose- 
cutions, by information or indictment, against 
any person or persons for any alleged violation 
or disregard wdiatever of what are usually known 
as the laws of the Legislature of Kansas,"shall be 
forthwith dismissed by the courts where such 
prosecutions may be pending, and every person 
who may be restrained of his liberty by reason of 
said prosecutions, shall lie released therefrom 
without delay. Nor shall there hereafter be insti- 
tuted any criminal prosecution, in any of the 
courts of the United States, or of said Territory, 
against any person or persons for any such 
charge of treason in said Territory prior to the 
passage of this act, or any violation or disregard 
of said Legislative enactments at any time. 

Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That all 
justices of the peace, constables, sheriffs, and all 
other judicial and ministerial officers, who shall 
be in otiice within the limits of said Territory 
when this act shall take effect, shall be, and they 
are hereb}', authorized and required to continue 
to exercise and perform the duties of their re- 
spective otTices as officers of the Territoi-y of 
Kansas, temporarily, and until they, or others, 
shall be duly appointed nnd qualified to fill their 
places, in the manner herein directed, or until 
their offices shall be abolished. 

Sec. 23 grants to every actual settler a right 
of preemption to the quoi-ter-section of public 
land improved and occupied by him in said Ter- 
ritory of Kansas, prior to Jan. 1st, 1858. 

The two last and most important sections 
of Mr. Dunn's bill are verbatim as follows : 

Sec. 24. And be il further enacted, That so 
much of the fourteenth section, and also so much 
of the thirty-second section, of the act passed at 
the first session of the thirty-third Congress, 



1G2 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



commonly known as the Kansas Ncbrnskr. act, 
as reads as follows, to wit : " Exrept the eighth 
section of the act preparatory to the admission 
of Missouri into the Union, approveil March G, 
1820, which being inconsistent with tlie principle 
of non-intervention by Congress with Slavery in 
the States and Territories as recognized by the 
legislation of 1850, commonly called the Com- 
promise Measures, is hereby declared inopera- 
tive and void ; it being the true intent and mean- 
ing of this act not to legislate Slavery into any 
Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but 
to leave the pcoi)lc thereof perfectly free to form 
and regulate their domestic institutions in their 
own way, subject only to the Constitution of 
the United States: Provided, That nothing 
laerein contained shall be construed to revive 
or put in force any law or regulation which may 
have existed prior 'fo the act of 6th March, 1820, 
either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or 
abolishing Slavery"— be and the same is hereby 
repealed, and the said eighth section of said act of 
the 6th of March, 1820, is hereby revived and de- 
clared to bo in full force and effect within the said 
Territories of Kansas and Nebraska : Provided, 
hotcever, That any person lawfully held to ser- 
vice in either of said Territories shall not be dis- 
charged fi-om such service by reason of such re- 
peal and revival of said eighth section, if such 
p(: rson shall be permanently removed from such 
Territory or Territories prior to the 1st day of 
January, 1858 ; and any child or children born 
in cither of said Territories, of any female law- 
fully held to service, if in like manner re- 
moved without said Territories before the expira- 
tion of that date, shall not be, by reason of any- 
thing in this act, emancipated from any service 
it mi^ht have owed had this act never been 
passed : And provided further, That any per- 
son lawfully held to service in any other State or 
Territory of the United States, and escaping into 
cither the Territory of Kansas or Nebraska, may 
be reclaimed and removed to the person or place 
where such service is due, under any law of the 
United States which shall be hi force upon the 
subject. 

Sec. 25. And he it further enacted, That all 
other parts of the at'oresaid Kansas-Nebraska 
act which relate to the said Territory of Kansas, 
and every other law or usage having, or which 
is pretended to have, any force or effect in 
said Territory in conflict with the provisions or 
the spirit of this act, except such laws of Con- 

fress and treaty stipulations as relate to the In- 
ians, are hereby repealed, and declared void. 

Mr. Dunn having carried a reference to the 
Committee of the Whole, of a bill introduced 
by Mr. Grow, repealing all the acts of the al- 
leged Territorial Legislature of Kansas, now 
moved and carried a reconsideration of that 
vote, and proceeded to the striking out of 
Mr. Grow's bill and the insertion of his own 
as a substitute. This motion prevailed. 
"Whereupon Mr. Dunn moved the previous 
question on ordering this bill to be engrossed 
and read a third time, which prevailed — 
Yeas 92 ; Nays 8G — and then the bill passed 
— Yeas 88 ; Nays 74 — as Ibllows : 

YEAS— Messrs. Albright, Allison, Ball, Bar- 
bour, Benson, Bishop, Bliss, Bradshaw, Brenton, 
Bufiinton, Cam])bell of Pa., Campbell of Ohio, 
Chalfee, Clawson, Colfax, Comius, Covode, 
Cumback^^DamrcU, Dean, Dick, Dodd, Dunn, 
Durfce, l?Ui<', Edwards, Emrio, Flagler, Gid- 
dings, Gilbert, (iranger. Grow, Hall of Mass., 
Harlan, Hnrriaon, Jiarrn, Ilolloway, liorton of 
N. Y., Hortou of Ohio, Uughston, Kclsey, King, 



Knnpp, Knight, Knowlton, Knox, Kunkel, Mat- 
tcson, M'Carty, Miller, Moore, Morgan, Morrill, 
Nichols, Norton, Oliver, Parker, Pelton, Perry, 
Pcttit, Pringle, Purviance, Eitchio, Sabin, Sage, 
Sapp, Sherman, Simmons, Spinner, Stanton, 
Stranahan, Tappan, Thurston, Todd, Traftoii, 
Wade, Wakenum, Walbridge, Waldron, Wash- 
burne of 111., Washburn of IMe., Watson, 
Welch, Wells, Wood, Woodruff, Woodworth— 
88. 

NAYS— Messrs. Aiken, Barksdale, Bell, 
Bowie, Branch, Broom, Burnett, Campbell of 
Kentucky, Carlile, Caruthers, Caskie, Cobb of 
Ga., Cobb of Ala., Cox, Craige, Crawford, Cul- 
len, Davidson, Davis of Md., Denver, Dowdcll, 
Edmundson, English, Faulkner, Poster, Goode, 
Greenwood, Harris of Md., Harris of Ala., Harri.^ 
of Illinois, Houston, Jewett, Jones of Tenn., 
Jones of Peiin., Kennett, Kidwell, Lake, Letter, 
Lumpkin, H. Marshall of Kentucky, Marshall of 
Illinois, Maxwell, Miller of Indiana, Millson, 
Packer, Peck, Phelps, Powell, Puryear, Quit- 
man, Eeade, Ready, Ricaud, Rivers, Ruifin, 
Savage, Shorter, Smith of Tenn., Smith of Va., 
Sneed, Stephens, Stewart, Swope, Taylor, 
Trippe, Underwood, Valk, Walker, Warner, 
Watkins, Winslow, Wright of Miss., Wright of 
Tenn., and Zollicoffer — 74. 

This bill was not acted on by the Senate. 

The House in the course of its action on the 
several Annual Appropriation bills, affixed to 
several of them, respectively, provisos, abol- 
ishing, repealing, or suspending the various 
obnoxious acts of the Territorial Legisla- 
ture ; but all these were resisted by the Sen- 
ate, and were ultimately given up by the 
House, save one appropriating $20,000 for 
the pay and expenses of the next Territorial 
Legislature, which the Senate gave up, on 
finding itself in serious disagreement with 
the House, and thus secured the passage of 
the Civil Api^ropriation bill. Finally the two 
Houses were at odds, on a proviso forbidding 
the employment of the Army to enforce the 
acts of the Shawnee Mission assemblage, 
claiming to be a Territorial Legislature of 
Kansas, when, at noon on the 18 th of August, 
the Speaker's hammer fell, announcing the 
termination of the session, leaving the Array 
bill unpassed. But President Pierce imme- 
diately issued a proclamation convening an 
extra session on the 21st (Thursday), when 
the two Houses reconvened accordingly, and 
a full quorum of each was found to be pre- 
sent. The House promptly repassed the 
Army bill, again affixing a proviso forbid- 
ding the use of the army to enforce the dis- 
puted Territorial laws, which proviso the 
Senate as promptly struck out, and the 
House as promptly reinserted. The Senate 
insisted on its disagreement, but asked no 
conference, and the House (Aug. 22d) by a 
close vote decided to adhere to its proviso : 
Yeas 97 ; Nays 93 ; but one of the yeas 
(Bocock of Va.) was so given in order to 
be able to move a reconsideration ; so that 
the true division was 96 to 91, which was 
the actual division on a motion by Mr. Cobb 
of Ga. that the House recede from its posi- 
tion. Finally, a motion to reconsider was 



THE KAXSAS-NEBllASKA STRUGGLE. 



1G3 



made and liiid on the table : Yeas 97 ; Xays 
90 : aiul tlu! House tliert'upuii adjuiinied. 

Aug. 'I'.iil. — 'I'lie Senate also voted to ad- 
here : Yeas 3;") ; Nays 9. 

Mr. (Jliiyton proposed a Committee of 
Conference, to which Mr. Seward objected. 
No action. 

In the House, Mr. Campbell of Oliio pro- 
posed a similar Committee of Conference. 
Objected to. , 

Mr. Matteson of New-York submitted 
the followinjj : 

IVki'rcas, By ftu act passed bv tlio two IIoukos 
of Cmiu'ress, mid niipmved by tfit; I'rcKidt'iit, eii- 
tilK'd ".liiiiit rcsoliuidu lor iiiiuexinj;; 'iVxiis to 
tlio United .States, iijiproved Miircli 1, 1815," ni'- 
ticles of compact wtic ottered to Texas for her 
admission into tlio Union " iiim/i ccrftiin comli- 
tioii.1 (/ml L,ni(ir<in/fi!!,'' tlio tliird article of whicli 
tendered compact was in tliese words : 

•' New States of eouvouient size, not cxceeJing four 
in number, iu aiUlitioa to said Statu of Texas, and 
having suflicient population, may lioreafter, by tlio 
consent of said State, bo formed out of tlio Territory 
tlion-of, which shall bo entitled to admission under 
the Fedi-ral Constitution ; and sucli States as may bo 
formed out of that portion of said Territory lying south 
of oli'' 30' north latitude, commonly known us tlio 
Jlissouri Comi)romise line, shall be admitted into tlio 
Union, with or without Slavery, as the people of each 
Stati- asking admission may desire ; and in such 
State or States as shall l)e formed out of said Terri- 
tory north of said Compromise lino, Slavery or invol- 
untary servitude (except for crime) shall be prohibit- 
ed ;" 

And whereas, Texas, by a solemn public act, 
done in a convention of the people, according to 
tlu* requirements of the said act of Con<;rcss,did 
accept tlio said articles of compact, and was ad- 
mitted into the Union as one of the United States 
ujion the " conditions and guarantees" men- 
tioned iu said joint resolution, and is now a 
ytute of this Union in virtue thereof; 

And icJiercas, Tlio said third article of com- 
pact as aforesaid, containincr a limitation of Sla- 
very iu restricting the number of Slave States to 
be tormed iu Texas south of thirty-six degrees 
thirty minutes, to four States in addition to 
Texas itself, and also a prohibition of Slavery, 
except for crime, north of thirty-six degrees thirty 
minutes north latitude, is an independent and 
substantive motion, irrepealablc by either of the 
contracting parties without the consent of the 
other, and is not repealed by the Kansas-Ne- 
braska act, and could not bo repealed by that 
act : 

Therefore, bb it resolved. That Slavery, except 
for crime, in all that part of the former province 
of Louisiana north of latitude thirty-six degrees 
thirty minutes is and remaius prohibited, and 
tliat the President of the United States is under 
a double obligation to see that provision faith- 
fully executed, both iis a law of Congress and as 
a compact with a tlien foreign power, for a great 
and valuable consideration. 

And whereas. Besides being a compact with 
Texas, the said third article was a compromise 
between the Free and Slave States of this Union 
with limitation of Slavery, both as to the number 
of Slave States which might be formed in Texas, 
and the prohibition of Slavery north of tlih'ty-six 
degrei'S thirty minutes, bv virtue of which Texas 
wa.s admitted into the Union, and witiiout which 
she could not have been admitted : Therefore, 

Jic it resolved, That any attempt to violate 
said thu-d article of compromise, either by ad- 
mitting a greater number of Slave States south 
of thu-ty-six degrees thirty minutes than allowed 



therein, or by extending Slavery north of that 
latitude, is a violation of said compromiso and 
a direct attack upon tlie harmony and stability 
of the Union. 

Mr. Dunn of Iiid. moved that this do lie 
on the table : Carried : Yeas 10 1 : Nays 
83. ^ 

Mr. Col»b of Ga. moved that the IIou.so 
recede from its Ktinsas proviso : Defeated : 
Yeas 97; Nays 100. Adjourned. 

'J'lie .^trug-^lc lor the passajfe of the bill 
with or witiiout the proviso continued until 
Saturday, August 30th. when, .several mem- 
bers, hostile to the proviso, and hitlierto 
ab.seiit, unjiaired, haviiifi^ returned, the House 
again passed the Army bill with the proviso 
modilied as follows : 

Provided, however, that no [lart of tlie milita- 
ry force of the United States, lor the support of 
which approiirialions are made liy this act, shall 
bo employed in aid of the enforcement of any 
ouaclinents heretofore made by the body claim- 
ing to be the Territorial Legislature of Kansas. 

The bill passed as reported (under the 
Previous Question :) Yeas 99 ; Nays 79 ; 
and was scut to the Senate, where the above 
Proviso was stricken out : Yeas 20 ; Nays 
7 ; and the bill thus returned to the House, 
wlien the Senate's amendment was concur- 
red in I)y the following vote : 

YEAS— Messrs. Aiken, Akcrs, Barksdale, Bell, 
Bennett of Miss., Boeock, Bowie, Boveo, Branch, 
lUirnett, Cadwaladcr, Campbell of Ivy., Carlile, 
Caskic, Cliugman, Cobb of Ga., Cobb of Ala., 
Cox, Craige, Crawford, Cullen, Davidson. Da- 
vis of Jld., Denver, Dowdell, Edmundsoii, Klliott, 
Ethcredge, Eustis, Evans, Faulkner, Florence, 
Fuller of Me., Coode, Greenwood, Hall of Iowa, 
Harris of Md., Harris of Ala., Harris of HI., liar 
rison, Haven, Hickman, Hoffman, Houston, 
Jewett, Jones of Tenn., Jones of Penn., Keitt, 
KeTly, Kennett, Kidwell, Lake, Letcher, Lump- 
kin, A. K. Marshall of Ky., Humphrev Marshall 
of Ky., Marshall of 111., JInxwell, McMuilen, 
McQueen, Miller of lud., Millson, Oliver of Mo., 
Orr, Packer, Peck, Phelps, Porter, Powell, 
Puryear, Quitman, Kicaud, Rivers, Kullin, Kust, 
Saudidge, Savage, Seward, Shorter, Smith of 
Tenn., Smith of Va., Smith of AIa.,Snced, Ste- 
phens, Stewart, Swope, Talbott, Taylor, Ti/son, 
Underwood, Vail, Walker, Warner, AVells, 
Wheeler, Whitney, Williams, Winslow, Wright 
of Miss., Wright of Tenn.. and ;^ollieoirer— 101. 

NAYS— Messrs. Albright, Allison, Barbour, 
Barclay, Bennett of N. Y., Benson, Billing- 
hurst, Bingham, Bliss, Bradshaw, Brenton, Buf- 
finton, Campbell of Penn., Campbell of Ohio 
Chaffee, E. Clark, Clawsou, Colfax, Comins, Co- 
vode, Cragin, Cuinback, Danirell, Davis of 
Mass., Dean, Dcwitt, Dick, Dickson, Dodd, 
Dunn, Durfee, Edie, Edwards, Emrie, Flagler, 
Galloway, Giddings. Gilbert, Granger, Grow, 
Harlan, Holloway, Horton of N. Y., Howard, 
Hughstou, Kelsey, King. Knnpp, Kniglit, Knowl- 
ton, Knox, Kunliel, Loiter, Mace, JIattesou, Mc- 
Carty, Morgan. Mott, Murrav, Norton, Oliver of 
N.Y., Parker, Pelton, IViiningfoii, P.ttit, Pike, 
I'ringle, I'urviance, liitchie, liuberts, Kidibins, 
Kobison, Sabin, Sage, Siipj), Sec>tt, Sherman, 
Simmons, Spinner, Stanton, Stranahan,Ta|ipan, 
Tliorington, Thurston, Toild, Trafton, Wade, 
AVakeiuan, Walbridge, Waldron, Washburneof 
III., Wa.-^hburne of Wis(\, Washburn of Me., 
\\'elch. Woodruff, and Woodworlh — 'J?. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SLAVERY RESTRICTION. 



16-i 

So the Proviso was beaten at last, and the 
bill passed, with no restriction ou the Pre- 
sident's discretion in the use of the Army in 
Kansas ; just as all attempts of the House, 
to direct the President to have a nolle pro- 
sequi entered in the case of the Free-State 
prisoners in Kansas charged with aiding 
the formation and adoption of the Free-State 
constitution as aforesaid, had been previous- 
ly beaten, after prevailing in the House — 
the Senate striking them out and the House 
(i)y a union of nearly all the supporters of 



■^^''^ 3 



3 

Fillmore with nearly or quite all those sup- /'J^ 
porting Buchanan) finally acquiescing. 

In conclusion, it may be said, generally, 
that nothing has been really done, or (owing 
to the triangular division of parties) couU 
have been done, by this Congress with re- 
gard to Kansas, except to collect, authenti- 
cate, and present facts to be considered and 
acted on by the People in the ensuing Pre- 
sidential and Congressional elections. By 
the result of these, in all human probability, 
the fate of Kansas is now to be decided. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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